The series of lying statements by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is “no starvation” in Gaza has produced a powerful backlash by masses of people around the world who are horrified by the evidence that more than 100 Palestinians—the majority children—have died from lack of food and nutrition.
On Sunday, Netanyahu denied the starvation in Gaza while speaking at a Christian conference in Jerusalem. Speaking at an event hosted by Trump supporter and prominent evangelical pastor Paula White, Netanyahu declared:
There is no starvation in Gaza—and there is no policy of starvation in Gaza. We facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the conflict. If not, there would be no Gazans left. The sole entity obstructing the flow of humanitarian aid is Hamas. They are reversing the truth.
After 20 months of mass death caused by continuous Israeli bombings, drone missile strikes and ground assaults, Netanyahu also falsely stated that Israel “has provided humanitarian corridors and promoted airdrops of aid,” and called reports of starvation “a blatant falsehood.” He even went so far as to assert that images being circulated around the world of Palestinian children starved to death are fake.
Netanyahu said, “a campaign … distributing false pictures, creating an image of starvation which doesn’t exist.” His comments came on the heels of reports and viral images documenting skeletal children, desperate families and hospitals overwhelmed by malnutrition, which Israeli officials have tried to dismiss as “fake, distributed by Hamas.”
These denials by the fascist Israeli prime minister are directly contradicted by Gaza health authorities and international agencies who track hunger deaths daily. As of Monday, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports at least 147 Palestinians—including 88 children—have died from malnutrition and starvation since the beginning of the genocide in October 2023.
Al Jazeera reported Monday that in the last 24 hours, 14 more people, including two children, perished from hunger and malnutrition. Health officials warn the true toll is likely far higher due to communication breakdowns and the isolating chaos imposed by ongoing strikes.
Global organizations, including the World Health Organization, have described the growing mortality toll as “mass starvation,” with over 2 million still at risk as food supplies remain throttled by the Israeli blockade and bureaucratic hurdles. Testimonies from Gaza highlight desperate families unable to find food, with malnourished mothers unable to produce breastmilk and fatal shortages of baby formula.
Netanyahu’s assertions have unleashed a wave of international condemnation. The United Nations, numerous governments and more than 100 humanitarian aid organizations have decried the Israeli policy as “orchestrated famine” and “genocide,” emphasizing that the starvation in Gaza is not accidental but a product of deliberate deprivation and the systematic obstruction of overland aid.
Protests have erupted in major cities across the US, Europe and the Middle East, where demonstrators have filled streets demanding an immediate end to the blockade and the free flow of aid into Gaza.
In New York City, hundreds marched through Manhattan during a mass “Day of Action,” chanting for justice for Palestine and decrying US complicity in what they described as genocide and collective punishment. Outside the White House in Washington, protesters banged pots and carried signs reading “Let the food trucks in” and “Israel stop starving Gaza,” calling on the American administration to halt its support for Israel and enforce urgent humanitarian access.
European capitals have seen similar scenes. In Berlin, hundreds gathered, banging kitchenware and carrying banners such as “Stop the genocide” and “Yes to bread, no to bombs,” urging the international community, and especially Germany, to intervene and end the famine. In addition, protests and public outrages were reported across the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain and Greece, with actions ranging from large marches to direct blockades of businesses linked to Israeli trade and arms shipments.
Aid agencies have called continuously for the opening of all land crossings, a halt to the siege and immediate ceasefire, warning that “starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime.” Even within Israel, opposition has grown as hundreds of Israelis have joined demonstrations criticizing their government including prominent academics and writers denouncing the policies as beyond the pale of morality.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, called the trickle of aid allowed by Israel “a drop in the ocean,” warning that 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours without immediate intervention.
The severity of the public outrage over the starvation of Palestinian babies has also forced hypocritical statements from leading representatives of the imperialist countries who have backed the genocide in Gaza since it began.
While visiting Scotland, President Donald Trump unconvincingly said, “Those children look very hungry. That’s real starvation, and you can’t fake that. The kids need to be fed.” Vice President JD Vance also feigned sympathy saying, “the United States aims to ensure that starving children receive nourishment.”
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron jointly referred to the “egregious” actions in Gaza but took no action to stop them. Starmer’s government has even claimed in court that there is “no serious risk of genocide in Gaza.”
In its own public relations maneuver, Israel announced on Sunday a “tactical pause” in its military campaign. The army said it would suspend combat operations for 10 hours each day in three areas—Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Muwasi—to “facilitate” aid delivery.
However, even as a trickle of aid was let into Gaza, Israeli strikes killed dozens, including those waiting for food in “safe zones,” illustrating once again that the real aim of the Zionist regime is to terrorize the Palestinian people in advance of their permanent removal from the Strip.
On Monday, Israeli military actions in Gaza resulted in the deaths of at least 78 Palestinians, according to health officials in the territory. Strikes were reported across multiple locations, with some of the deadliest air and artillery attacks occurring outside the designated 10-hour daily “pause.”
Among those killed were a pregnant woman and her newborn baby, who both died after an Israeli airstrike hit a house and nearby tents in the Muwasi area of Khan Younis. The newborn had been delivered via emergency surgery but did not survive long after birth.
Other strikes targeted homes in Khan Younis and additional sites across the enclave. Reports confirm at least 11 people, including more than half women and children, were killed in a separate attack on a residential building, while additional casualties occurred elsewhere in Gaza as attacks continued amid the humanitarian crisis.
Aid organizations quickly condemned the deceptive “pauses” as inadequate and cynical diversions from any real solution. Numerous truckloads of food remain stuck at Gaza’s periphery, while children continue to die of starvation inside, as Israel blames others for the lack of food distribution.
All the stated humanitarian concerns by the imperialist powers and Israel are exposed by ongoing military operations and the real plans for mass displacement of Palestinians. Israel’s preparations for a “humanitarian city” in Rafah—a concentration camp near the Egyptian border—are still in the works.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz and the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) are working toward the corralling of as many as 2 million Palestinians into a tightly guarded camp in Rafah, intending to “deradicalize and reintegrate” residents and later “prepare them for relocation,” that is, permanent expulsion from Gaza.
Under this plan, camp residents would be cut off from the outside world, forbidden to leave and exposed to further deprivation and violence. It is to this end of ethnic cleansing that the starvation of the Palestinian population is aimed.
As images and reports of starvation in Gaza continue to circulate, the world’s population is becoming aware of these events which recall the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in the 20th century during World War II. The crimes against humanity now being committed by Israel in Gaza, with the complicity of leaders like Trump, Starmer and Macron, will be remembered as harbingers of revolutionary struggles by the working class that will overthrow the world capitalist system.