Killing by blockade: 'Israel' starves Gazans, then deflects or denies

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites + Agencies
25 Jul 2025 23:34

Amid growing international condemnation, “Israel” dismisses famine reports and shifts blame, all while tightening its deadly blockade and obstructing critical aid to Gaza.

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Abdullah Ashour, 7, who suffers from burns caused by hot food, sits beside his empty plate after a meal at his family's tent in a camp set up at a former UNRWA school in central Gaza City, on Saturday, May 24, 2025 (AP)

As the humanitarian crisis deepens in Gaza, with growing reports of child malnutrition and starvation deaths, Israeli officials are ramping up efforts to deny responsibility and deflect international criticism. Despite widespread documentation and testimony from humanitarian organizations, Tel Aviv continues to assert that it is not to blame for the worsening conditions.

While dozens of countries, UN agencies, and global leaders hold "Israel" accountable for the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, officials have launched a broad public messaging campaign to counter the mounting pressure. This includes downplaying the famine, questioning its existence, and shifting blame onto Hamas and international aid organizations.

'Drip-feeding' accusations, narrative reversal

The campaign comes amid harrowing images from Gaza and warnings from global health agencies. The director-general of the World Health Organization described the situation as “man-made mass starvation,” while 28 nations, including the UK, issued a joint statement this week condemning "Israel's" handling of aid delivery.

“The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” the joint statement read, adding, “We condemn the drip-feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food.”

As famine worsens across #Gaza due to the ongoing Israeli blockade and repeated attacks on aid distribution centers, Palestinian children describe their unbearable hunger, the loss of siblings, and the desperate search for basic food.#GazaStarving #GazaGenocide pic.twitter.com/WXrjc7OoQn
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) July 22, 2025

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained that “there will be no starvation in Gaza.” However, other Israeli officials have taken a more aggressive stance in disputing the severity of the crisis.

A senior Israeli security source, speaking off the record, claimed, “There is no hunger in Gaza,” dismissing images of skeletal children as cases involving “underlying diseases".

David Mencer, a government spokesperson, echoed the denial in a Sky News interview, “There is no famine in Gaza, there is a famine of the truth.”

Independent reports refute Israeli claims

These claims stand in stark contrast to findings by humanitarian organizations. Médecins Sans Frontières reported last week that one in four young children and pregnant or breastfeeding women screened at its Gaza clinics showed signs of malnutrition. A recent UN report estimated that one in five children in Gaza City now suffers from acute malnutrition.

According to international law, as the occupying power, "Israel" is responsible for ensuring that civilians under its control have access to basic life necessities. But officials continue to deny accountability, instead directing blame at Hamas and aid organizations.

A leaked US government assessment obtained by Reuters contradicts one of "Israel’s" central claims, that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid. The report found “no reports alleging Hamas” benefited from any of the 156 incidents involving US-funded aid deliveries between October 2023 and May 2025.

It found “no reports alleging Hamas” benefited from US-funded supplies, according to a slide presentation of the findings seen by Reuters.

Undermining UN, blocking access

As part of its strategy to shift blame, "Israel" has increasingly targeted international organizations. It banned UNRWA, the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, accusing it of bias. That decision significantly disrupted aid operations and forced a reliance on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private body backed by "Israel" and the US, with little experience or infrastructure. Aid centers affiliated with the GHF have been linked to multiple harrowing massacres where starved Palestinians have been killed.

#WATCH | Footage shows the aftermath of a massacre committed by the Israeli occupation, whereby 45 #Palestinians were martyred and hundreds were wounded as Israeli occupation forces targeted aid seekers, east of Khan Younis, southern #Gaza. pic.twitter.com/v6uz4PWtjI
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 17, 2025

Israeli authorities have also imposed bureaucratic barriers on UN relief efforts. According to UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, "Israel" denied eight out of 16 UN convoy requests in a single day last week. He added that even approved routes faced “bureaucratic, logistical, administrative and other operational obstacles imposed by Israeli authorities.”

On Thursday, the World Health Organization warned that life-saving nutritional supplies for malnourished children are nearly exhausted. “Most malnutrition treatment supplies have been consumed, and what is left at facilities will run out very soon if not replenished,” a WHO spokesperson said.

If not shifting blame, 'Israel' denies hunger exists

Despite Gaza's starvation catastrophe, Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir took to social media Friday to defend the blockade and reject claims of hunger. “If they were hungry, they would have returned the hostages home,” he posted on X. “I support starving Hamas in Gaza.”

Ben-Gvir has long advocated for halting all humanitarian aid, calling for the full reoccupation of Gaza, the expulsion of Palestinians, and the construction of Israeli settlements.

'Let the world worry about it'

His recent comments align with earlier remarks by Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu, who previously endorsed starvation as a military tactic, a policy the Israeli government formally denies.

Eliyahu ignited outrage on Thursday after openly stating that the Israeli entity is intensifying efforts to erase Gaza, with the aim of forcibly displacing its Palestinian population and replacing them with Israeli settlers, a move widely condemned as a campaign of ethnic cleansing and settler colonialism.

The minister also rejected reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where aid agencies have warned of widespread famine and the collapse of essential services amid the ongoing Israeli genocide. “There’s no hunger in Gaza,” he said. “But we don’t need to be concerned with hunger in the Strip. Let the world worry about it.” Eliyahu described the international concern over food shortages as “a campaign against Israel” and insisted, “we are at war and trying to kill ‘these monsters.’”

Humanitarian groups have condemned such rhetoric as an admission of collective punishment, warning that starvation is being weaponized against Gaza’s population. UN agencies and rights advocates argue that denying the existence of famine while simultaneously obstructing aid represents a serious breach of international humanitarian law.