‘False campaign': Israel insists there is no starvation in Gaza
Referring to images of emaciated Palestinian children that have shocked people around the world, including Albanese, Meron said: 'The picture that you see, we think these are false pictures.'
Meron said food shortages in Gaza should be blamed on a lack of willingness by international aid organisations to deliver the aid and the theft of food and other supplies by Hamas militants.
He said the new measures announced by Israel, including pauses in the fighting, were 'of course to tackle this false campaign that Hamas is running against Israel, the starvation campaign'.
'When the UN agencies are saying that there is no aid, we're showing those pictures [and saying] look, there is aid, and it's ready, and it's you can take it now and bring it to the Gaza Strip into the population. Why aren't you taking it?' he said.
The deputy ambassador's comments echoed those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Monday, who told the UN and other aid organisations: 'Stop finding excuses, do what you have to do and stop accusing Israel deliberately of this egregious falsehood. There is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza.'
Netanyahu has been charged by the International Criminal Court with using starvation as a weapon of war, a claim his office dismissed as false and antisemitic.
After French President Emmanuel Macron urged world leaders to recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations General Assembly last week, Labor MP Basem Abdo used his first speech to parliament on Monday to subtly support Australian recognition of Palestine.
Abdo, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugees, described Palestinians as a 'suffering people, a steadfast people', adding that 'international law matters, the international rules-based order matters'.
'The right to peace, justice and recognition matters – deserving of a historic commitment,' he said.
More than 100 international aid organisations issued a joint statement last week saying 'mass starvation' was spreading across Gaza, and that 'our colleagues and those we serve are wasting away'.
According to the WHO, there have been 74 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza this year, with 63 occurring in July – including 24 children under five.
'Most of these people were declared dead on arrival at health facilities or died shortly after, their bodies showing clear signs of severe wasting,' the WHO said in an update on Sunday.
The Australian government last week joined 27 nations to condemn 'the drip-feeding of aid' by Israel, while Albanese said on Sunday that 'quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March'.
Pressed on whether Albanese was wrong to say that Israel broke international law by halting all aid deliveries from March until May, Meron said: 'What we're saying is that Israel doesn't breach ... international humanitarian law in Gaza.
'There is enough aid in Gaza, and we are acting in different ways in order to bring more aid in Gaza.
'And the responsibility should be [placed] on Hamas, not on Israel.'
Albanese told parliament on Monday that Gaza is in 'the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe' and that 'Israel's denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children seeking access to water and food, cannot be defended nor can it be ignored'.
'We have called upon Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law,' he said, adding that he also condemned Hamas.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley told Sky News: 'I find the images incredibly distressing and the stories of aid not reaching the people where it's needed incredibly distressing.'
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Asked about Meron's comments regarding 'false pictures', she said: 'It's clearly a very complicated situation on the ground.'
The war could end immediately if Hamas agreed to surrender and release all the remaining hostages, Ley added.
Liberal Senator Dave Sharma said there was 'pretty overwhelming' evidence of malnutrition and food shortages in Gaza but told the ABC: 'I don't believe Israel has stopped food from being delivered, or at least my understanding is that has not been the policy intent.'
According to the UN human rights office, more than 1000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food aid over the past two months, including more than 700 near one of the distribution centres run by the recently created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
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