Israel Bombs and Shoots The Starving, Claims To Be Anti-Famine

The United Nations has officially declared famine in Gaza City, after experts warned that over half a million people find themselves in a "catastrophic" situation. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, says that the famine doesn't have to do with food per se, but with the deliberate collapsing of the systems necessary for human survival.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights at the UN, Volker Turk, maintains that it is a war crime to use lack of food for military purposes and blames the current famine directly on the Israeli government.

AP reporters say they have seen chaos on access roads to food distribution centers, and almost daily report Israeli troops firing on Palestinians trying to get food. Many have been killed in the process.

Hundreds of Gazans are believed to be dead of starvation.

International Humanitarian Organizations (Save The Children, Plan International, Oxfam, and Action Against Hunger) have condemned the catastrophe, maintaining that children pay the highest price and that the famine's effects will be irreversible for many of them in the Gaza enclave.

The Palestinian National Authority, which governs the occupied West Bank, requests the immediate opening of borders so that aid can enter Gaza, as well as a strong international response to the situation.

Predictably, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu characterizes the UN declaration as an "absolute lie" and deadpans that Israel doesn't have a famine policy, but rather, a famine prevention policy. He also maintains that refuting lies is always more difficult than inventing them, which certainly helps account for his conduct.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz threatens to destroy Gaza City and "open the gates of Hell" within days unless Hamas capitulates to Israel's cease fire terms, warning that should they fail to do so the city will be devastated like Rafah and Beit Hanun have been. 

Dozens of Palestinians continue to be killed in Gaza every day, and while the total Gazan death toll since October 7, 2023 is said to be over 62,000, the real figure is likely to be many times that.

 

 

Sources:

"Famine In Gaza," La Jornada (Spanish), August 23, 2025

"Israeli Attacks In Gaza Continue In The Midst of Famine; 33 Dead," La Jornada (Spanish), August 23, 2025