Crime

By Pesach Benson • August 12, 2025

Jerusalem, 12 August, 2025 (TPS-IL) — Israel’s security establishment said Tuesday that a detailed investigation had exposed “the lie of the ‘starvation campaign,’” accusing Hamas of fabricating and exaggerating claims of famine in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the inquiry found that Hamas’ Ministry of Health “biased and misleadingly” presented malnutrition data, sometimes attributing deaths of people with severe pre-existing conditions to hunger. “Hamas is cynically using tragic images and misusing them for the purposes of an awareness campaign,” COGAT said, calling the reports “false” and “a timed pressure tool” to sway international opinion against Israel.

COGAT is a unit of the Israeli Defense Forces that coordinates civilian issues in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

The investigation highlighted sharp discrepancies between the official numbers reported by Hamas and documented cases identified in media or social media. COGAT noted that until June 2025, Hamas reported 66 deaths from malnutrition during the war. In July alone, that number allegedly jumped to more than 133 — an increase COGAT linked to the run-up to negotiations. However, in contrast to earlier months, Hamas did not publish the names or details of the deceased in July, and Israeli analysis “reveals only a few cases” matching the claims.

In cases where identities were confirmed, COGAT said most victims had severe underlying illnesses.

One image widely circulated on social media showed four-year-old Abdullah Hani Muhammad Abu Zarqa, whose condition was attributed to hunger. israeli authorities said a medical examination found he suffered from a hereditary metabolic disorder causing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, calcium loss, and bone thinning — a disease that affected other family members as well. They added that four months before the war, Abdullah had traveled with his mother to eastern Jerusalem’s Al-Maqassad Hospital for treatment with Israeli permission.

Another case involved 27-year-old Karem Khaled Mustafa Al-Jamal, reported by Hamas to have died of malnutrition. COGAT said he had muscular dystrophy and partial paralysis since childhood, leading to swallowing difficulties — a chronic condition unrelated to the war.

The security review, conducted with medical professionals, concluded there were “no signs indicating a widespread phenomenon of malnutrition among the population in Gaza.” COGAT said Israel would continue “to improve the humanitarian response in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the international community, while rejecting claims of famine.”

A special report by The Press Service of Israel on Thursday in July found that according to the UN’s own numbers, a staggering 85% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip by truck since May 19 has been stolen. The investigation found that a combination of black market profiteers and inflation have made much of the aid in Gaza markets unaffordable for most Palestinians.

“There is some hunger in Gaza, and it exists only in places Hamas is pursuing it, not in other areas,” Professor Eytan Gilboa an expert in international relations and media at Reichman University in Herzliya, told TPS-IL.

Approximately 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 50 remaining hostages, around 30 are believed to be dead.