by Davit Beglaryan
What Israel is doing in Gaza today — through siege, starvation, and relentless military assault — is horrifying. But it is not new. These same tactics were used less than two years ago by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The blueprint is almost identical: blockade the civilian population, starve them, bombard them, strip them of political agency, and mask it all behind a wall of propaganda.
The real tragedy? Many in the Middle East — who are rightfully outraged by Israel’s actions — celebrated when Azerbaijan did the same.
Blockade as Warfare
In Gaza, the humanitarian situation has become catastrophic. Since October 2023, Israel has blocked food, fuel, and aid, even to northern areas where famine is now imminent. The World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, and UNRWA have all reported systematic denial of aid and deliberate targeting of health and civilian infrastructure.
Compare this to Artsakh, where from December 2022 through September 2023, Azerbaijan closed the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor — the only road linking the region to Armenia. Over 120,000 ethnic Armenians were trapped under the blockade. No food, fuel, or medicine was allowed in — a fact confirmed by the International Court of Justice, which issued two binding rulings ordering Azerbaijan to lift the blockade. Azerbaijan ignored both.
By August 2023, the blockade had turned Artsakh into a humanitarian disaster zone. The first confirmed fatality from starvation was Hovhannisyan K., a 40-year-old resident of Stepanakert, who died from chronic malnutrition and protein-energy deficiency, as reported by an Artsakh human rights activist.
Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram
Shortly thereafter, an unborn child died in hospital after medical staff were unable to obtain infant formula. The situation was so dire that a UN special rapporteur declared the blockade to be “a form of collective punishment.”
Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram
Ethnic Cleansing
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a one-day military assault on Artsakh, killing hundreds and forcing the entire population to flee. In just a week, more than 100,000 Armenians were driven from their homes — a population emptying so complete that even Human Rights Watch acknowledged it amounted to ethnic cleansing.
Посмотреть эту публикацию в Instagram
The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention and the International Association of Genocide Scholars had both warned — in advance — that this would happen. Their warnings were ignored. There was no UN outcry. No emergency session. No Arab League condemnation. Instead, Azerbaijani officials were welcomed across the region — praised as strategic partners and allies.
In contrast, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has already displaced over 75% of the population. Entire towns have been flattened. As of August 2025, over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed — the majority of them women and children, according to OCHA and UNICEF.
Destruction of Culture and Memory
After occupying Artsakh, Azerbaijan wasted no time. Videos emerged of Armenian cemeteries being desecrated and religious sites vandalized. The Dadivank Monastery, a 9th-century Armenian church previously under the protection of Russian peacekeepers after the 2020 trilateral agreement, is now exposed and unprotected, as Russian forces have fully withdrawn, leaving the occupying regime in total control.
Azerbaijan has a long-standing record of systematically erasing Armenian cultural heritage — most notoriously the destruction of thousands of khachkars (carved stone crosses) in Julfa, an act widely condemned by historians and described by UNESCO as cultural genocide.
This mirrors what is happening in Gaza. Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, ancient mosques, and entire universities have been reduced to rubble. Israel denies targeting them, but satellite imagery and on-the-ground investigations tell another story. On July 17, 2025, an Israeli tank shell struck the compound of Gaza’s only Catholic church, the Holy Family Church, killing three civilians — including an elderly woman and the church janitor — and injuring the parish priest, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, visited Gaza on July 22, joining Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III in offering spiritual support, overseeing aid deliveries, and condemning the attack as a grave violation of religious sanctuary and human dignity.
Propaganda, Dehumanization, and Silence
Both governments have used similar rhetorical weapons: label the entire population as terrorists, frame the conflict as “anti-terrorism,” and blame the victims.
Azerbaijan spent years accusing Artsakh Armenians of being “illegal settlers” — despite the fact that they had lived there for centuries. After the 2020 war, it began rewriting schoolbooks, creating mock Armenian villages for propaganda, and lobbying international organizations to ignore or downplay human rights abuses.
Israel has long adopted the same model — painting all resistance as “Hamas,” all civilians as “human shields.” The result is a dehumanized narrative that enables the systematic erasure of a people under the pretense of “defense.”
Both regimes also relied on identical social media disinformation. During the Artsakh blockade and the assault on Gaza, state-aligned troll accounts in Azerbaijan and Israel circulated the same propaganda line — word for word:
“BREAKING: Footage inside [Gaza/Stepanakert] shows restaurants completely operating. Why doesn’t the media show you this?”
The goal was to deny the suffering, discredit reports of starvation, and fabricate a false sense of normalcy under siege. This was not coincidence — it was copy-paste propaganda from two regimes using the same playbook.
Selective Solidarity Is Moral Bankruptcy
The clearest evidence of moral failure is not in what was done — but in who was allowed to do it without consequence.
When Israel bombs Gaza, its defenders cite security. When Azerbaijan starves Artsakh, its defenders cite territorial integrity. But the victims in both cases are civilians. Families. Children. Thousands of them. Ethnically cleansed, starved, erased.
Why did so many who weep for Gaza cheer when Artsakh was wiped off the map? Why did Arab and Muslim leaders who rightfully condemn Israel applaud Azerbaijan’s victory? Why did the world accept, in silence, the erasure of an indigenous Christian people — but now demand justice only when it aligns with their political preferences?
This is not about choosing sides. It is about being consistent. If your outrage only surfaces when the perpetrator does not share your religion or your geopolitical goals, you are not fighting for justice. You are just picking teams.
Final Word: Never Again Means Everyone
Artsakh was the dress rehearsal. Gaza is the main act. Both are case studies in how modern states commit atrocities while hiding behind PR, drone footage, and geopolitical impunity.
If the world had listened when Armenia warned about Azerbaijan, maybe Gaza would not have reached this point. If those now crying out for Palestinians had raised a voice for Armenians, maybe this pattern of impunity would have been broken.
Ethnic cleansing is ethnic cleansing — no matter who commits it. Blockades starve children the same way — whether in Stepanakert or Rafah. And the victims deserve more than the selective sympathies of a politically convenient conscience.
Sources & References
UN: Famine in Gaza
WHO: Attacks on Health in Gaza
ICJ Orders Azerbaijan to Lift Blockade
https://www.icj-cij.org/node/202552
UN Human Rights: Artsakh Blockade = Collective Punishment
Infant Starves Under Blockade
(https://www.armenianweekly.com/2023/08/25/starvation-blockade-death-of-artsakh-infant-triggers-outrage/)https://www.armenianweekly.com/2023/08/25/starvation-blockade-death-of-artsakh-infant-triggers-outrage/
(https://www.armenianweekly.com/2023/08/25/starvation-blockade-death-of-artsakh-infant-triggers-outrage/)
Azerbaijan’s Military Operation in Artsakh
(https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-launches-karabakh-operation-after-four-dead-soldiers-2023-09-19/)https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-launches-karabakh-operation-after-four-dead-soldiers-2023-09-19/
(https://www.reuters.com/world/azerbaijan-launches-karabakh-operation-after-four-dead-soldiers-2023-09-19/)
BBC: 100,000 Armenians Flee
(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66924239)https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66924239
(https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66924239)
HRW: Azerbaijan Must Ensure Return of Ethnic Armenians
(https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/04/azerbaijan-ensure-safe-return-ethnic-armenians-karabakh)https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/04/azerbaijan-ensure-safe-return-ethnic-armenians-karabakh
(https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/04/azerbaijan-ensure-safe-return-ethnic-armenians-karabakh)
Lemkin Institute Statement on Genocide in Artsakh
(https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new/statement-on-the-genocide-of-artsakh-armenian-people-by-azerbaijan)https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new/statement-on-the-genocide-of-artsakh-armenian-people-by-azerbaijan
(https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new/statement-on-the-genocide-of-artsakh-armenian-people-by-azerbaijan)
IAGS Public Statement
(https://genocidescholars.org/press-releases/public-statement-on-the-situation-in-nagorno-karabakh/)https://genocidescholars.org/press-releases/public-statement-on-the-situation-in-nagorno-karabakh/
(https://genocidescholars.org/press-releases/public-statement-on-the-situation-in-nagorno-karabakh/)
OCHA Gaza Updates
(https://www.ochaopt.org/updates)https://www.ochaopt.org/updates
(https://www.ochaopt.org/updates)
UNICEF: Gaza’s Children Are Dying
(https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gaza-crisis-children-are-dying-israels-bombardment)https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gaza-crisis-children-are-dying-israels-bombardment
(https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/gaza-crisis-children-are-dying-israels-bombardment)
Hyperallergic: Cultural Genocide in Nakhichevan
(https://hyperallergic.com/687080/armenian-cultural-genocide-in-nakhchivan-caught-in-the-crosshairs-of-geopolitics/)https://hyperallergic.com/687080/armenian-cultural-genocide-in-nakhchivan-caught-in-the-crosshairs-of-geopolitics/
(https://hyperallergic.com/687080/armenian-cultural-genocide-in-nakhchivan-caught-in-the-crosshairs-of-geopolitics/)
Al Jazeera: Al-Ahli Hospital Blast
(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/18/al-ahli-arab-hospital-blast-what-do-we-know-so-far)https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/18/al-ahli-arab-hospital-blast-what-do-we-know-so-far
(https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/18/al-ahli-arab-hospital-blast-what-do-we-know-so-far)
Freedom House: Azerbaijan Profile 2024
(https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-world/2024)https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-world/2024
(https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-world/2024)
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/07/israeli-strike-gazas-only-catholic-church-kills-three
