The suffering of civilians is real – but so is the spin. Media distortions, Hamas propaganda, and UN failures have fuelled the crisis as much as any Israeli misstep.
July 31, 2025 15:05
Is Gaza truly in the midst of a starvation crisis? Nearly two years into this war, the answer remains murky, obscured by conflicting narratives, misrepresented images and political agendas. On one side are real, undeniable scenes of desperation: crowds scrambling for food, people stampeding to seize boxes from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and long queues for the most basic necessities. These images portray human suffering on a scale that cannot be ignored.
Yet, alongside these scenes are images that have been weaponised and amplified by the media to present a story that, at times, is detached from reality. Take, for example, the case of five-year-old Osama al-Rakab. His frail body appeared on European front pages with headlines blaming Israel for his condition and alleged “starvation”. The truth? Al-Rakab is not in Gaza at all. He suffers from a severe genetic illness, unrelated to the war, and is receiving medical treatment in Italy.
Another widely circulated image showed 18-month-old Mohammed Al-Motawaq, his gaunt frame cradled by his mother. NPR ran his photo with the line: “He is starving in Gaza.” Yet Mohammed’s condition, too, is rooted not in malnutrition caused by the war, but in serious congenital disorders, including a degenerative muscular disease. His younger brother, visibly healthy in other photos, raises an uncomfortable question: if famine were truly the sole cause, why is one child starving while another in the same household is not?
And then came the video released by the IDF this week, showing Hamas fighters boarding a truck, rifles slung over their shoulders and looting aid intended for civilians. This footage stands in stark contrast to last week’s New York Times report claiming Israel had produced “no evidence” that Hamas was stealing humanitarian supplies.
Do these examples of media distortion and selective reporting mean that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza? Of course not. There is a crisis – one that even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged on Monday night, describing the situation as “difficult”. US President Donald Trump, speaking in Scotland, went further, declaring there is “real starvation” in Gaza. The suffering is real. But so is the manipulation of that suffering to advance narratives divorced from the facts.
This brings us to the more contentious question: Who is to blame? Is Israel responsible, or does the responsibility lie elsewhere? On a basic level, the expectation that Israel – the nation that endured the October 7 massacre, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust – should supply food, medicine, and fuel to the very entity that perpetrated that attack is unprecedented.
The world demanded no such thing when the United States and Britain pursued al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or fought ISIS in Mosul in 2017. There were no real calls for coalition forces to halt operations so they could coordinate food deliveries to civilians trapped under ISIS’s rule.
Yet when it comes to Israel, there is a singular, obsessive standard. Just last week, 28 countries – including the UK, France, Italy and Canada – issued a joint statement demanding an immediate end to the war and condemning what they called “the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food”. How many of these same governments issued a similar statement during the brutal siege on Mosul?
The international conversation has been framed in a way that places almost all responsibility on Israel, while largely absolving Hamas of the role it plays: starting the war on October 7, prolonging it by refusing to release hostages or accept a ceasefire, and seizing humanitarian aid for its fighters. This omission is part of a broader strategy by Hamas to weaponise suffering, knowing that sympathetic media and diplomats will help them stay in power.
Nor can the UN escape blame. In recent weeks, hundreds of aid trucks were waiting at Gaza’s borders, with pallets of flour and food unloaded inside the Strip, awaiting distribution. Yet the UN balked, citing “security concerns,” and pointed the finger at Israel instead. Meanwhile, critical time was lost and civilians went hungry – not just because the food was absent, but because the international body responsible for distributing it chose not to do its job.
Arab states, particularly Egypt and Jordan, have also shirked their obligations. While vocal in their condemnation of Israel, both countries have done little to alleviate Gaza’s plight. Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, has repeatedly closed the Rafah crossing at various points during the war and has consistently refused to accept refugees or meaningfully ramp up aid. It is easier, it seems, to direct outrage at Israel than to take meaningful steps that can ease Gaza’s plight.
And then there is the media. When Hamas’s “genocide” narrative failed to gain universal traction, it pivoted to “famine” and “starvation”. Too many journalists, eager to tell a story that vilified Israel, did not bother to do the basics like vetting images before splashing them across their pages. In doing so, they became unwitting – or perhaps willing in some cases – participants in Hamas’s propaganda campaign.
Still, Israel is not without fault. The government has contributed to this crisis by mishandling both the humanitarian and the public diplomacy fronts. For months, officials dismissed reports of food shortages as fabrications and insisted there was no starvation. They reassured the Israeli public and foreign governments that military pressure alone would force Hamas to negotiate, release hostages and ultimately collapse. They touted the GHF as the solution that would bypass Hamas and claimed that no other aid mechanisms would be necessary.
Nearly two years later, those assurances have evaporated. The military pressure has not broken Hamas; instead, it has stiffened its resolve. The GHF, while well-intentioned, has failed to insulate aid from Hamas’s grasp. Instead, Israel and other nations are now reduced to air-dropping supplies into Gaza and facilitating hundreds of truckloads of aid, precisely the outcomes Israeli ministers once rallied against.
What remains most glaring is Israel’s failure to articulate a coherent strategy for this war. There is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. People are suffering. Israel knew this and yet failed to preempt the international backlash, to counter the narrative of starvation before it metastasized. By the time it ramped up aid deliveries and adjusted its policies, it was too late. The story had been set: Israel, the world’s villain, was starving civilians en masse.
If Israel wants to avoid a repeat of this debacle, it must do two things simultaneously. First, it must craft a real, actionable plan to achieve its core objectives: preventing another October 7, dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and bringing the hostages home. Second, it must stop ceding the narrative battlefield. Countering false or misleading reports, pushing accurate data, and working with allies to expose Hamas’s exploitation of aid are existential.
The international community, too, cannot cleanse its hands. By accepting false and exaggerated narratives while ignoring Hamas’s theft of aid and rejection of ceasefires, governments are emboldening Hamas. Every headline blaming Israel while excusing Hamas is another reason for the terror group to believe it can hold on, survive and even claim victory.
That outcome is bad for everyone – Israel, the Palestinian people and the world. A durable solution requires confronting the suffering in Gaza honestly, assigning responsibility accurately and ensuring that Hamas, not the civilians it hides behind, pays the price for this war.
Yaakov Katz is co-founder of the MEAD policy forum, co-author of “While Israel Slept,” about the October 7 attack, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, and a former editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post
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