An Israeli campaign on social media this week is claiming there is no hunger in Gaza, while Palestinians have been documenting people dying from starvation due to the Israeli-imposed blockade on the strip.
The official X account of the State of Israel has shared numerous posts suggesting that images of starving and malnourished children being shown across the world are fabricated, claiming that the children are suffering from other illnesses, such as “cystic fibrosis”.
In recent weeks, many international organisations, as well as the Palestinian health ministry, have warned of looming famine in Gaza.
The United Nations has warned of “catastrophic hunger” in Gaza and said the entire population of over two million people is severely food insecure. “One out of every three people has not eaten for days, and 80 percent of all reported deaths by starvation are children,” the agency said.
While the death toll in Gaza is now over 60,000, at least 154 people have died due to malnutrition and starvation in the enclave, according to various news reports and international organisations.
In May, the World Health Organisation said the entire population of Gaza is facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death.
“This is one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time,” it added.
Even the leader of Israel’s strongest ally, US President Donald Trump, said this week that “real starvation” was occurring in Gaza.
However, despite the evidence, the Israeli campaign continues to deny that there is starvation in the war-torn enclave.
The official X account of the State of Israel shared a post saying how a lie about starvation has gone “viral” and a child’s illness was twisted by “propaganda”.
In another case, the same X account shared the video of 41-year-old Mohammad al-Hasanat, who allegedly suffered from untreated diabetes and died from complications related to this illness.
Red herrings
However, many doctors who served in Gaza’s hospitals have already suggested many times how pre-existing illnesses are very hard to treat due to a lack of nutrition and proper healthcare, both of which are very limited due to Israel’s continuing blockade of the Strip.
Doctors Without Borders has reported a sharp increase in child malnutrition across Gaza, with cases among children under five tripling in recent weeks amid the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Even doctors have reported that they, too, have become too weak to care for the ill in Gaza due to a lack of proper nutrition.
Nearly a dozen healthcare workers throughout the region have told The Guardian and Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism about their growing struggle to find food and the deterioration of their physical health caused by hunger.
The New York Times put out a report about a child in Gaza named Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, who was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. The report said that “After publication, The Times learned that he also had pre-existing health problems”, suggesting that hunger was not to blame for his death.
Several pro-Israeli voices capitalised on this and are now saying that Mutawaq’s case proves that starvation in Gaza is “a lie”, which backs the ongoing Israeli campaign on social media.
However, speaking to Middle East Eye for another article, Yasin Fatine, a London-based doctor specialising in paediatrics, said the photographs of Mutawaq and others were consistent with starvation, not their long-term disabilities.
The claim that pre-existing illnesses of Palestinians are the actual cause of their deaths, and not starvation, also has faced backlash on social media, with many suggesting that Israel’s continuous blockade of aid and food into Gaza is the actual cause of deaths.
In the meantime, Palestinians are still continuing to share proof of people being severely affected or dying from malnutrition.
Many international organisations, including the largest organisation representing Jews in the UK, have warned against the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza and called for “a massive and sustained flow of aid” into the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Ammar Ammar of Unicef, the UN’s aid agency for children, said in an interview with MEE: “Malnutrition quickly weakens their immune systems, making common illnesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia far more deadly.”
While all of these expert opinions suggest that even if there are underlying illnesses that caused or contributed to the deaths of many Palestinians, the Israeli campaign claiming there is no starvation in Gaza seemed out of touch for many on social media.
