Israel Official Says 'No Deliberate Starvation in Gaza' Amid Backlash
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A senior Israeli diplomat has denied that his country was engaging in an intentional campaign of withholding food for more than 2 million Palestinians residing in Gaza, chalking up the allegations being launched by a growing chorus of nations as part of a campaign led by Hamas.
"There is no deliberate starvation in Gaza, only a deliberate disinformation campaign orchestrated by Hamas and amplified by those who fail to act," Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, told Newsweek. "Hamas doesn't care about the suffering of children, only about weaponizing their pain to spread hatred against Israel."
The comments came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent declaration that "there is no starvation in Gaza" was met with skepticism by his ally, U.S. President Donald Trump, who said Monday that "those children look very hungry" in Gaza, later adding there was "real starvation" in the territory.
Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.
Palestinians collect food aid from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah.
Palestinians collect food aid from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah.
Abed Rahim Khatib/Picture-Alliance/DPA/AP
The Fight for Food
While Trump has broken with Netanyahu on starvation in Gaza, where the Hamas-led Palestinian Health Ministry has placed the number of deaths due to hunger at 154 since the beginning of the war in October 2023, the president has also defended the Israel-approved aid distribution system carried out by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Trump announced Tuesday that he would partner with Israel to establish food centers in Gaza to address what he deemed to be shortages.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has simultaneously begun instituting a daily "tactical pause in military activity" for "humanitarian purposes" in the areas of Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Musawi. The practice, first declared on Sunday, was said "to enable the safe passage of UN and humanitarian aid organization convoys delivering and distributing food and medicine to the population across the Gaza Strip."
The IDF also said it would begin conducting aid airdrops into Gaza, as well allow Jordan and the United Arab Emirates to resume their own aerial shipments of assistance.
Israel had previously blocked the U.N. and other countries from distributing humanitarian assistance in Gaza in March, arguing that a substantial amount of aid was being stolen by Hamas, a practice denied by the group. The blockade was eased in May, yet Israeli officials maintain that the threat of supplies being diverted by Hamas remained real.
"The U.N. aid model empowers Hamas," Akunis said. "On the other hand, GHF has provided essential assistance directly to the people in Gaza. Since starting operations in May, they have delivered more than 94 million meals.
"Meanwhile, Hamas actively interferes with and disrupts aid distribution, using all means, including firing upon its own people."
Hamas has accused Israel of setting "death traps" for Palestinians seeking to collect aid at GHF distribution points. Last week, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians had been killed while trying to collect aid since May, citing the Hamas-led Palestinian Health Ministry.
Hamas has also dismissed the IDF's "tactical pause" approach to facilitate greater humanitarian aid, describing the strategy as "a blatant attempt to mislead global public opinion while it continues mass killings, starvation and depriving civilians of the most basic life necessities, brazenly defying international will and all demands to halt the aggression."
Hidaya, a 31-year-old Palestinian mother, carries her sick 18-month-old son Mohammed al-Matouq, who is displaying signs of malnutrition, inside their tent at the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 24, 2025.
Hidaya, a 31-year-old Palestinian mother, carries her sick 18-month-old son Mohammed al-Matouq, who is displaying signs of malnutrition, inside their tent at the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 24, 2025.
OMAR Al-QATAA/AFP/Getty Images
Igniting the Debate
As Newsweek recently reported, the debate over the existence and extent of starvation in Gaza has been further fueled over the past week after an image was circulated by major media outlets showing an emaciated 1-year-old, Mohammad al-Matouq, also spelled al-Mutawaq, being cradled by his mother.
Matouq was one of many young Palestinian children whose malnourished states have been featured in images raising awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
But his case drew particular controversy as pro-Israel sources such as investigative reporter David Collier and media monitor Honest Reporting highlighted that most coverage did not reveal that Matouq also suffered from other underlying medical conditions contributing to his poor health.
The New York Times issued an editors' note on Tuesday clarifying its reporting on Matouq.
"Children in Gaza are malnourished and starving, as New York Times reporters and others have documented," a New York Times spokesperson said. "We recently ran a story about Gaza's most vulnerable civilians, including Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who is about 18 months and suffers from severe malnutrition.
"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. This additional detail gives readers a greater understanding of his situation."
Akunis argued that "responsible and accurate journalism is absolutely essential, especially during a time of war in a highly charged media environment," noting how "some mainstream media outlets use false or misleading information that results in Israel being wrongly blamed or accused of actions it did not commit."
He cited the recent case of Matouq, as well as that of 5-year-old Osama al-Raqab, as examples of instances in "which the mainstream media asserted children were suffering from starvation but failed to mention that they suffered from preexisting medical conditions that were the true cause of their physical suffering, not a lack of food."
Israeli soldiers stand guard next to humanitarian aid at the Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025.
Israeli soldiers stand guard next to humanitarian aid at the Kerem Shalom crossing between southern Israel and the Gaza Strip on July 27, 2025.
CARLOS REYES/AFP/Getty Images
International Pressure
A number of health workers and international organizations testify to conditions of mass hunger and malnutrition in Gaza as Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks repeatedly stall nearly 22 months into their war.
Among them is the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), whose Middle East and North Africa spokesperson, Tess Ingram, told Newsweek on Monday that "the evidence from the Gaza Strip is clear—malnutrition is rising, fast, due to the lack of food, safe water and nutrition treatments," and that "starvation is widespread and it is killing people, especially children."
She argued that "this crisis is manmade and entirely preventable."
David Miliband, former United Kingdom foreign secretary who is now president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, used similar language during an interview Tuesday with NPR, asserting that "this is a manmade catastrophe that has a very straightforward answer on the humanitarian side."
"Of course, war and politics are very complicated, and that's a vital part of this equation...I can tell you that 2 million people are on the line," he said. Their lives, and especially the lives of their children who are suffering from acute, severe, acute malnutrition, needs to be addressed today. So that's not politics. That's humanitarian."
His comments came as U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the same day that his country would recognize Palestinian statehood during the U.N. General Assembly in September "unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, agree to a ceasefire and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace, reviving the prospect of a two-state solution."
Starmer also called on Hamas to "sign up to a ceasefire, disarm and accept that they will play no part in the government of Gaza."
The U.K. leader's ultimatum followed French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement last week that his country would move to recognize Palestinian statehood while urging "an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and massive humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza."
Both moves have been slammed by Netanyahu and his government, who have rejected attempts to recognize Palestinian statehood. The U.S. has also criticized such efforts outside of a framework that would include a lasting peace treaty to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While Trump had earlier suggested that he would not oppose Starmer's looming shift on Palestinian statehood, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said Tuesday that Washington's position remained unchanged when asked by a reporter who characterized the U.K. move as leverage to prevent starvation in Gaza.
Bruce explained the U.S. stance as being that "this is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7, that it rewards Hamas, and it harms the ability to stop this framework from—it allows it to continue," adding that "it gives one group hope, and that's Hamas, it is rewarding of that kind of behavior."
"In any other normal environment where someone was so utterly defeated, they would surrender," she said. "In this case, that just does not occur. And part of it is because of, perhaps, the hope that they receive on how long the suffering lasts, how much that pushes the world to acquiesce to their arguments. And that is—there's one group that benefits from the images and the reality of the horribleness, and that's Hamas."
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