Viral photo of 'starving' child in Gaza is misleading

The Herald Scotland

02-08-2025

This has led President Donald Trump to say he wanted to boost U.S. humanitarian efforts in war-torn Gaza. Hamas terrorists in Gaza started the war on Oct. 7, 2023, when they attacked Israel, slaughtering and kidnapping hundreds of Israeli citizens. Palestinian civilians are now paying the price for those atrocities.
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"We can save a lot of people," Trump said July 28, while meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland. "I mean, some of those kids are - that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake it."
But what if you can?
New York Times does damage control after misleading image
The photograph of one mother and child in particular has created a firestorm.
The New York Times published a lengthy report online about alleged starvation in Gaza on July 24, featuring 18-month-old Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq. Photos show a child in distress, with his bones painfully visible. His mother tries to comfort him.
The Times then ran the story on its print front page July 25, with the photo of the child and his mother as the leading image. The caption says the child was "born healthy" but is suffering from "severe malnutrition."
Yet, it turned out there was more to the story.
Five days after the story was published, on July 29, The Times issued an editor's note (buried at the bottom of the article) as well as a brief statement on its communications social media page that offered readers much-needed context.
The note "clarifies" that the child suffers from serious "pre-existing health problems."
"We have since learned new information, including from the hospital that treated him and his medical records, and have updated our story to add context about his pre-existing health problems," a Times spokesperson said in the statement. "This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation."
That's putting it mildly.
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The Times certainly wasn't alone in running images of Mohammed. Others, including CNN, did as well.
After all, a picture paints a thousand words. And these photos went viral, making Mohammed the face of starving children across Gaza.
It also buoyed the narrative pushed by the media and progressives that Israel is at fault for blocking aid from flowing to the Palestinians in need.
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But thanks to the reporting of independent journalists and pushback from Israel officials, the truth has come out.
The state of Israel posted on social media another photograph of the mother and child, which features the child's older brother, who appears healthy. The contrast makes it clear that there's much more contributing to Mohammed's condition than lack of food.
"BBC, CNN, Daily Express, and The New York Times spread a misleading story using a picture of a sick, disabled child to promote a narrative of mass starvation in Gaza - playing into the hands of Hamas's propaganda war," the post states.
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Americans deserve the full story. For instance, David Makovsky, director of the program on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, recently pointed out on X that a United Nations report shows that "87% of its 2,010 food trucks in Gaza (85% by tonnage) from May 19-July 29 were 'intercepted' - either peacefully by crowds or forcefully by armed actors."
In other words, Hamas is intercepting food meant for civilians. That's worth reporting.
Trump is right to feel empathy for the innocent civilians in Gaza, especially the children. But it's Hamas who deserves the blame for their plight - not Israel.
As Trump noted in a July 31 Truth Social post, "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!"
The truth is that Hamas is using the suffering of those who live under its grip to try to achieve its aims.
That's the real tragedy.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [e-mail] or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques