[News] Outrage as Netanyahu says no mass starvation in Gaza, suggests Palestinians are overweight

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/outrage-netanyahu-says-no-mass-starvation-gaza-suggests-palestinians-are-overweight>
Outrage as Netanyahu says no mass starvation in Gaza, suggests Palestinians
are overweight
Ghalia Mohamed
May 28, 2025
------------------------------

Prime minister says Israel has photographs of thousands of unclothed
prisoners, an 'indication' of sufficient food, as experts warn of looming
famine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference in
Jerusalem, on 21 May 2025 (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP)

Published date: 28 May 2025 20:45 BST | Last update: 2 days 4 hours ago

Social media users have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
after he insisted that international accusations
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel>that Israel
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> is using food as a weapon
of war in Gaza <https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza> are
“a lie”, and suggested that Palestinians
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> in the besieged enclave
were overweight.

Speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance conference in
Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza were not
experiencing mass starvation "at all".

"We take thousands of prisoners, sort them out into civilians and
combatants, and we photograph them... The first thing you do is you tell
them, 'Take your shirt off. We want to see that there is no suicide
vest.'.. and you don’t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of the
war to the present," he said.

"In fact, you see quite the opposite because you don’t get that much
exercise, certainly not in tunnels, but you get food."

Clips from the premier's speech spread rapidly online.

"Netanyahu’s claims are a shocking denial of reality," one person said
<https://x.com/SyedAjmalKazmi/status/1927671654513058150>. "While
Palestinians in Gaza are dying from hunger due to Israel’s blockade, he
absurdly talks about detainees being overweight."

The United Nations and international organisations have repeatedly
<https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155836> warned of extreme hunger
<https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/09/gaza-israels-imposed-starvation-deadly-children>
and the risk of imminent famine
<https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-97/en/> in
Gaza due to Israel's blocking of aid and humanitarian assistance since the
start of the war in October 2023.

Since 2 March, Israel has enforced a total blockade of aid, medical, food
and fuel supplies, which led to the entirety of Gaza's population
being at "critical
risk
<https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250512-gaza-faces-critical-risk-of-famine-un-report>"
of famine, according to UN experts. Dozens
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/four-year-old-boy-dies-starvation-gaza-due-israeli-blockade>
of children have died due to starvation.

The UN and major international humanitarian organisations have also
criticised a controversial new US-Israeli aid distribution system
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/what-inside-box-aid-distributed-gaza-humanitarian-foundation>
as inadequate and a violation of humanitarian principles.

"Netanyahu speaks with the callousness of someone who sees suffering as a
spectacle," posted another social media user. "To deny starvation while
orchestrating a siege is not just inhuman, it's diabolical."

Another said: <https://x.com/nsanzo/status/1927603240406810869>“The only
thing that's new here is the admission. This has been the Israeli MO
forever”.

Others highlighted what they termed Netanyahu's "boasting
<https://x.com/KhaledSafi/status/1927485086611456384>" of imprisoning
thousands of Palestinian civilians and photographing
<https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1927541141874045122> them after making them
remove their clothing.

"What kind of leadership boasts about photographing detainees naked to
'prove' they’re well-fed?" asked
<https://x.com/FaizUnscripted/status/1927729700060676123> one person.

Another said <https://x.com/Neen_3845/status/1927505538465579425>: "He’s
basically saying that he’s taken CIVILIANS as hostages, stripped them of
their dignity, studied them in prison labs and made conclusions about them."
'Israel is desperate'

In his speech, Netanyahu also took aim at the international pro-Palestinian
protest movement, which he labelled "antisemitic" and a threat to
civilisation.

He called on Israel's allies - including Canada, France, the US and UK -
to stand against what he termed “antisemitic virulence”.

"The people who are leading this charge are basically challenging western
civilization or free societies as we understand them," he said. "Israel is
fighting [a war of] civilisation against barbarism."

Several social media users interpreted his words as an attack on free
speech and a threat against pro-Palestinian advocates in western countries.

One social media user said
<https://x.com/MalariaIn/status/1927651486365790531> Netanyahu "put a
target on the back of every EU and westerner who opposes the genocide in
Gaza", while another said
<https://x.com/kimincanada/status/1927610603012788598>: "Israel officially
declared war on us”.

Netanyahu’s comments that frame Israel’s war on Gaza as a fight for
“western civilisation” also come after the recent unprecedented
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-france-and-canada-threaten-sanctions-against-israel>
threat of sanctions from the UK, France and Canada, which marked a dramatic
shift in policy for all three countries that have been key backers of
Israel.

Therefore, some interpreted the leader's speech as a sign that
international pressure campaigns against Israel have shown some success.

"Israel is desperate," said one social media user.

Another <https://x.com/DinaH41/status/1927623902718521834> added:
“guilt-tripping manipulative speech - allies aren’t buying it anymore.
Enjoy diplomatic isolation”.
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