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Netanyahu calls Gaza famine accusation a ‘blood libel’

A strongly-worded statement claims the UN-backed report ignores Israeli humanitarian efforts and is based on ‘fabrications’

August 24, 2025 08:26
GettyImages-2230631245 (1).jpg
People walk with bags of humanitarian aid they received at a distribution centre run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), as they cross the so-called "Netzarim corridor" in the central Gaza Strip, on August 22, 2025. The United Nations officially declared a famine in Gaza on August 22, the first time it has done so in the Middle East, with experts warning 500,000 people face "catastrophic" hunger. UN agencies have long been warning of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, particularly as Israel steps up its offensive against Hamas. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP) (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)

By

JC Reporter,

Jewish News Syndicate

2 min read

“Israel does not have a policy of starvation. Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement yesterday in the wake of a UN-backed report proclaiming famine in the Gaza Strip.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s office denounced the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative report released on Friday, saying that it amounts to “a modern blood libel, spreading like wildfire through prejudice.”

Not only has there not been hunger in Gaza since August 15, as the IPC report states, the statement said, but “prices have plunged because of Israel’s surge in humanitarian aid in Gaza.”

According to the report formulated by the IPC initiative, which is associated with some 25 global partners, including UN agencies, “over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death.

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