Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has strongly rejected a United Nations report declaring an official state of famine in Gaza, describing it as a “gross lie.”
The UN announcement, made on Friday, marked the first time famine has been officially declared in the Middle East. The report stated that the crisis “could have been avoided” without what it described as Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid deliveries.
Netanyahu, however, placed responsibility for shortages on Hamas. “Israel has no policy of famine. Israel has a policy of preventing famine,” his office said in a statement, adding that “the only ones deliberately left to starve in Gaza are the Israeli hostages” held by Hamas.
The prime minister argued that the UN’s assessment overlooked what he described as Israel’s humanitarian efforts, as well as the “systematic theft of aid by Hamas.” According to Netanyahu, such thefts were the cause of temporary shortages, which Israel had managed to overcome through its own measures.
