The sight of hungry, emaciated Syrians drew attention to the fact that the warring parties in this Arab country resort to starvation as a weapon of war.

The UN Security Council acted against this, at last, recently adopting a resolution calling on all sides to cease and desist from laying siege to Syrian towns with the aim of causing starvation among the population.

The resolution was unanimously agreed to by members of the council.

The world must have been jolted by the horrifying scenes of starved people in Syria, including but not limited to those in the town of Madaya, which has been under blockade by the Syrian armed forces since July.

The starving inhabitants of this town had to literally eat grass and tree leaves in order to stay alive. Not all made it, though, and there are reports of many dead of hunger.

The fact that the UN Security Council took so long to act on such a grave violation of international humanitarian law will surley haunt human conscience everywhere.

This belated UN action is too little too late; the war machine in Syria killed nearly 300,000 people by the UN’s account, most of them civilians, and destroyed houses, institutions and the infrastructure of the country.

Condemning and taking measures against the use of starvation as a tool of war is laudable, but it should be accompanied by determined efforts to combat the indiscriminate killings of the population, an endeavour that should have long been undertaken.

The war in Syria has been going on for five years now, and terrorist groups, opposition forces and government armed forces have had no compunction about bombing innocent civilians.

The most effective step the international community can take against starvation as a weapon is to put an end to the armed conflict in Syria and insist that the fighting parties respect international humanitarian provisions on armed conflicts, with a stern reminder that those found responsible will be held accountable.

Unfortunately, utter disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law has become the hallmark of the Syrian civil war. The disgraceful silence with which most of the international community meets it must end.