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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Outrage as Netanyahu says no mass starvation in Gaza, suggests Palestinians are overweight</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Ghalia Mohamed</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time">May 28, 2025</div>
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<p>Prime minister says Israel has
photographs of thousands of unclothed prisoners, an 'indication' of
sufficient food, as experts warn of looming famine</p>
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<p>Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference in Jerusalem, on 21 May 2025 (Ronen Zvulun/Pool/AFP)</p>
<p><span>Published date:</span> 28 May 2025 20:45 BST
<span>| </span>
<span>Last update:</span> <span id="gmail-date-updatedago">2 days 4 hours </span> ago </p>
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<div><p>Social media users have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he insisted that international accusations<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank"> </a>that <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israel</a> is using food as a weapon of <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza" target="_blank">war in Gaza</a> are \u201ca lie\u201d, and suggested that<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank"> Palestinians</a> in the besieged enclave were overweight. </p>
<p>Speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance
conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza
were not experiencing mass starvation "at all". </p>
<p>"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\u2019t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of
the war to the present," he said.</p>
<p>"In fact, you see quite the opposite because you don\u2019t get that much exercise, certainly not in tunnels, but you get food."</p>
<p>Clips from the premier's speech spread rapidly online.</p>
<p>"Netanyahu\u2019s claims are a shocking denial of reality," one person<a href="https://x.com/SyedAjmalKazmi/status/1927671654513058150" target="_blank"> said</a>.
"While Palestinians in Gaza are dying from hunger due to Israel\u2019s
blockade, he absurdly talks about detainees being overweight."</p>
<p>The United Nations and international organisations have<a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/10/1155836" target="_blank"> repeatedly</a> warned of<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/09/gaza-israels-imposed-starvation-deadly-children" target="_blank"> extreme hunger</a> and<a href="https://www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-website/alerts-archive/issue-97/en/" target="_blank"> the risk of imminent famine</a> in Gaza due to Israel's blocking of aid and humanitarian assistance since the start of the war in October 2023.</p>
<p>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 "<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250512-gaza-faces-critical-risk-of-famine-un-report" target="_blank">critical risk</a>" of famine, according to UN experts.<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/four-year-old-boy-dies-starvation-gaza-due-israeli-blockade" target="_blank"> Dozens</a> of children have died due to starvation.</p>
<p>The UN and major international humanitarian organisations have also criticised a controversial new US-Israeli<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/what-inside-box-aid-distributed-gaza-humanitarian-foundation" target="_blank"> aid distribution system</a> as inadequate and a violation of humanitarian principles.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>Another<a href="https://x.com/nsanzo/status/1927603240406810869" target="_blank"> said:</a>\u201cThe only thing that's new here is the admission. This has been the Israeli MO forever\u201d.</p>
<p>Others highlighted what they termed Netanyahu's "<a href="https://x.com/KhaledSafi/status/1927485086611456384" target="_blank">boasting</a>" of imprisoning thousands of Palestinian civilians and<a href="https://x.com/ryangrim/status/1927541141874045122" target="_blank"> photographing</a> them after making them remove their clothing.</p>
<p>"What kind of leadership boasts about photographing detainees naked to 'prove' they\u2019re well-fed?"<a href="https://x.com/FaizUnscripted/status/1927729700060676123" target="_blank"> asked</a> one person.</p>
<p>Another<a href="https://x.com/Neen_3845/status/1927505538465579425" target="_blank"> said</a>:
"He\u2019s basically saying that he\u2019s taken CIVILIANS as hostages, stripped
them of their dignity, studied them in prison labs and made conclusions
about them."</p>
<h3>'Israel is desperate'</h3>
<p>In his speech, Netanyahu also took aim at the international
pro-Palestinian protest movement, which he labelled "antisemitic" and a
threat to civilisation.</p>
<p>He called on Israel's allies - including Canada, France, the US and
UK - to stand against what he termed \u201cantisemitic virulence\u201d.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>Several social media users interpreted his words as an attack on free
speech and a threat against pro-Palestinian advocates in western
countries.</p>
<p>One social media user<a href="https://x.com/MalariaIn/status/1927651486365790531" target="_blank"> said</a> Netanyahu "put a target on the back of every EU and westerner who opposes the genocide in Gaza", while another<a href="https://x.com/kimincanada/status/1927610603012788598" target="_blank"> said</a>: "Israel officially declared war on us\u201d. </p>
<p>Netanyahu\u2019s comments that frame Israel\u2019s war on Gaza as a fight for \u201cwestern civilisation\u201d also come after the recent<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-france-and-canada-threaten-sanctions-against-israel" target="_blank"> unprecedented</a>
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.</p>
<p>Therefore, some interpreted the leader's speech as a sign that
international pressure campaigns against Israel have shown some success.</p>
<p>"Israel is desperate," said one social media user.</p>
<p><a href="https://x.com/DinaH41/status/1927623902718521834" target="_blank">Another</a> added: \u201cguilt-tripping manipulative speech - allies aren\u2019t buying it anymore. Enjoy diplomatic isolation\u201d.</p></div>
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