Hunger increasingly used as weapon of war as ‘food-related violence’ surges, analysis shows

Hunger is being increasingly exploited as a weapon of war with more than 20,000 documented incidents of “food-related violence” in the past eight years, new analysis reveals.Attacks include 1,261 strikes on markets used by families for daily groceries and 863 incidents in which food distribution systems were targeted and workers killed.The analysis looked at the period since UN resolution 2417 unanimously condemned the deliberate starvation of civilians in 2018. It found starvation is being increasingly weaponised with the supply of food routinely targeted in Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon and Haiti among others.Data compiled by Insecurity Insight uncovered 21,403 incidents in 15 countries where food supplies have been deliberately targeted since 2018, when the UN security council unanimously passed a resolution condemning the unlawful denial of humanitarian aid as a tactic of warfare.Researchers discovered 1,909 military strikes on farmland, and another 563 on water infrastructure vital for crops, which affected food security in more than 42 countries and territories.The remains of a market at Lankien, Jonglei state, South Sudan, after an airstrike in April 2026. Photograph: Florence Miettaux/The GuardianStates with the highest recorded incidents are the occupied Palestinian Territory with 9,013 attacks, followed by Yemen – 1,863 incidents – and Sudan, where food was targeted in 1,605 strikes. One of the most recent attacks in Sudan occurred on Tuesday when a drone struck a busy market, killing 28 people.Witnesses said the main market in the town of Ghubaysh, West Kordofan, appeared to have been deliberately targeted by the military while it was crowded with civilians.Other countries that documented repeated attacks on food supplies include Syria, which saw 1,538 incidents, many attributed to government or Russian military forces before the fall of the Assad regime; and Mali, where 1,415 attacks were recorded as the ruling junta struggled to maintain its grip on power in the west African country.The research, to be released on Monday to coincide with the anniversary of the UN resolution, describes a “marked increase” in attacks on markets, farmland and food distribution systems.Giulia Contò, conflict and hunger advocacy manager at Action Against Hunger, said: “Famine in Gaza and Sudan has captured global headlines over the past two years, but most conflict-induced hunger never does. It unfolds daily, with relentless attacks on the systems communities depend on to survive: livestock looted, markets bombed, aid convoys blocked.”Fire destroys a livestock market in El Fasher, in Sudan’s North Darfur state, in September 2023 after an attack by the Rapid Support Forces. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesResearchers also found that civilians were frequently targeted as they attempted to obtain food. Between October 2023 and the end of 2025, more than 10,300 people were killed or injured trying to access aid.Christina Wille, director at Insecurity Insight, urged the international community to implement the UN resolution, saying that it had a responsibility “to act upon violations”.She said: “It is not that resolution 2417 has failed, but that member states have failed to implement it, and to demonstrate the political will to prevent those very same actions that the international community claims to oppose.”Wille said that women were disproportionately affected by the weaponisation of hunger.“Women in particular are faced with some of the toughest choices: unreliable access to food might mean travelling longer distances, increasing risks to their safety in volatile contexts.“Women who were primarily carers are forced to become breadwinners, often while reducing their food intake to prioritise their family members. Without enough food, children are unable to play, learn or grow, and the consequences on their development will last a lifetime.”Waiting for food rations on the outskirts of Sana’a, Yemen, where prolonged conflict has meant millions of people living with extreme hunger. Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPAConflict remains the primary driver of hunger, accounting for more than half of all people facing severe hunger.Last month, UN agencies warned that a growing share of global hunger is becoming entrenched in a small group of conflict-hit countries, with two-thirds of people facing acute food insecurity concentrated in just 10 nations.