There is no lack of food in Gaza; the hunger seen by millions on social media and international news outlets is being deliberately orchestrated by Hamas, an Israeli government spokesperson emphasized Wednesday in the daily briefing.
“I want to deal with reports of food insecurity in Gaza head-on,” David Mencer told reporters.
The issue of “food insecurity in Gaza” is one that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been harping on for weeks. Blinken is due to arrive in Israel on Friday after first visiting Saudi Arabia and Egypt for separate talks.
“The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification known as the IPC made its doomsday predictions just yesterday. COGAT, which coordinates and facilitates humanitarian aid entering Gaza says the report quotes Hamas figures uncritically — this is the same Hamas, of course, that claims that Jews are the descendants of pigs and monkeys — so a reported outdated even before its publication is parroted internationally and the UN takes their word for it,” Mencer said.
The IPC warned in a statement on its website, “Famine is imminent as 1.1 million people, half of Gaza, experience catastrophic food insecurity … The entire population in the Gaza Strip (2.23 million) is facing high levels of acute food insecurity,” the agency claimed.
“To repeat: COGAT confirms it’s a bad assessment based on out-of-date data and an out-of-date picture,” Mencer emphasized. “Just yesterday 248 trucks carrying humanitarian aid were inspected by Israel and transferred to Gaza. Only 126 humanitarian aid trucks were distributed by the UN.
“There is stable food supply in southern Gaza; markets are bustling, food stocks are piled up in the aid agency warehouses in northern Gaza, where 10 to 15 percent of Gazans remain,” the spokesperson said.
The statements confirm ongoing social media posts by “Imshin” — an Arabic-language self-described “Gaza watcher” who uploads to English-language sites the TikTok and other social media videos posted by Gaza residents themselves.
Making food for displaced Gazans in Rafah, South Gaza Strip – in one video they are making maftool (couscous) and in the other – freshly slaughtered lamb.https://t.co/RWRx7Yz2athttps://t.co/TnGjrXibVr pic.twitter.com/DRgqtaGkWk
— Imshin (@imshin) March 20, 2024
“Better distribution is necessary, but our proactive measures are providing relief,” Mercer said.
Part of the problem has to do with Hamas operatives and criminal gangs hijacking and looting the aid distribution trucks. They take what they want for themselves, and then sell the rest to the Gaza civilians to whom the donated supplies were intended to be distributed, gratis.
“Let’s be clear: Hamas’s objective is to create an image of a humanitarian crisis. Where there is hunger in Gaza it is hunger orchestrated by Hamas. These are images they create — these are the images they want you to see.
Did you think no one in Rafah, south Gaza Strip, would be able to afford Chef Hamada's wartime shawarma, not to mention his wartime chicken and rice takeaway? Think again.#TheGazaYouDontSeehttps://t.co/hCS9k4qn1y https://t.co/9HjdwxXNkQ pic.twitter.com/PFeUzI8Bvg
— Imshin (@imshin) March 20, 2024
“I can guarantee three things. Number 1: no one in Hamas is hungry; Number 2: Hamas and other criminal and terrorist gangs steal the aid; and Number 3: Hamas wants to maximize the suffering of ordinary Gazans. Why? To stop the war, to protect their own skins, not those of ordinary Gazans.
“So today and every day, there is no limit to the amount of aid that can be delivered into Gaza by land, by air, and now even by sea,” Mencer said.
