Israeli Report Refutes UN Claims of Imminent Famine at Gaza, as Food Deliveries Soar 80 Percent Over Pre-War Levels

Israel says the number of truckloads of food entering the Gaza strip has increased by 80 percent compared to the pre-war period.

AP/Fatima Shbair
Palestinians line up for food at Rafah, Gaza Strip, March 12, 2024. AP/Fatima Shbair

With demands from abroad for more aid for residents of Gaza growing louder by the day, an Israeli government agency released a report Sunday disputing warnings from the United Nations and others that a famine is imminent in the war-torn strip.

The director of Israelā€™s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Major General Ghassan Alian, said the UNā€™s reports are based on faulty methodology, mistaken data, and reliance on unreliable sources such as the Hamas terrorists who started the war and continue to cling to power in the strip. More trucks laden humanitarian aid are entering Gaza now than were entering before the war began on October 7, the report says, and the number of truckloads of food entering the strip has increased by 80 percent compared to the pre-war period.

ā€œWe note there are inaccuracies in the report as well as failing to mention Israelā€™s considerable efforts to improve the humanitarian situation,ā€ the Israeli report states. ā€œIsrael is attentive to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and is working proactively with partners to provide relevant aid to the population and calls on the international community and the aid organizations to continue to work together for this purpose.ā€

The report comes in response to claims by the UN that unless action is taken soon, more than a million residents of Gaza will be living in famine conditions in the coming months. The UN based its report on a new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report on the situation at Gaza that said half of Gazaā€™s residents, or about 1.1 million people, could face famine if the war continues, and the remaining half will face ā€œemergencyā€ and ā€œcrisisā€ levels of food insecurity.

ā€œPalestinians in Gaza are enduring horrifying levels of hunger and suffering,ā€ the secretary general of the UN, AntĆ³nio Guterres, said when the report was released last week. ā€œThis is the highest number of people facing catastrophic hunger ever recorded by the Integrated Food Security Classification system ā€” anywhere, anytime.ā€

The UN report prompted howls of protest from liberals in the West, who demanded that Israel allow more humanitarian aid into the strip. Appearing on ABCā€™s ā€œThis Week,ā€ Senator Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, urged President Biden to use some of Americaā€™s clout with the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu to convince the Israelis to allow more aid into Gaza.

ā€œIā€™m just saying to President Biden, you said no excuses when it comes to getting humanitarian aid into Gaza,ā€ Mr. Van Hollen said. ā€œPrime Minister Netanyahu continues to drag his feet. So, instead of just sending more bombs without in turn getting the request that you want, Mr. President, letā€™s at least make this a partnership.ā€

In a separate appearance on CBSā€™s ā€œFace the Nation,ā€ the head of the UNā€™s World Food Programme, Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Republican senator from Arizona, said she believes that politics is playing a role in the distribution of food aid at Gaza. Israelā€™s government has maintained that Hamas terrorists are looting the aid that does make it into the strip and that UN relief agencies charged with distributing the aid once it gets into Gaza have not been doing their jobs.

ā€œIā€™m not really sure where the mistake has been made, but I do know that thereā€™s been accusations that somehow the UN isnā€™t doing their job, which couldnā€™t be further from the truthā€ Ms. McCain said. ā€œI think again itā€™s politics. Itā€™s something various factions are involved in. All I want to know is where and when we can take the food in and distribute it. Thatā€™s what I want to know from the Israeli government.ā€

The report from Israelā€™s territories agency notes that there are, as of Sunday, some 400 aid trucks parked on the Gaza side of the border awaiting distribution and that 10 trucks were allowed into North Gaza overnight Saturday. Additionally, 96 one-ton shipments of aid were airdropped into northern Gaza Saturday, and seven tankers of cooking gas and other fuel made their way into Gaza on the same day. There are, the report said, at least 21 bakeries operating in the strip at the moment.

ā€œItā€™s clear the IPC report has many factual and methodological inaccuracies that undermine its credibility and those of the sources of information it relies on,ā€ the report concludes. ā€œFurthermore, the report systematically ignores Israelā€™s humanitarian efforts during wartime; therefore, we wonā€™t allow any entity to defame the state of Israel in this manner.ā€


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