In the summer of 2025, photographs of emaciated Gazan children became the central evidence for the charge that Israel was deliberately starving Gaza’s population. The images reached front pages of newspapers worldwide and were cited as proof of genocidal intent. However, the most prominent of these images did not depict the truth, and the outlet that published it issued a correction reflecting its mistake, even though the allegation of famine was already viral and accepted as fact.[i]
On July 25, 2025, The New York Times ran a front-page image of Mohammed al-Mutawaq, an emaciated toddler, describing him as a child born healthy and reduced to that state by the war. Medical records showed, however, that he suffered from cerebral palsy and a suspected genetic disorder affecting his ability to eat – conditions unrelated to the war.[ii]
Other photographs showed his mother and older brother at ordinary weights.[iii] The Times subsequently appended a correction acknowledging the boy’s “pre-existing health problems,” but the image of the boy had already been engrained in the minds of people around the world as a “symbol” of the alleged starvation in Gaza.[iv] [v] The episode was reported not only in Israeli outlets but by Euronews and Newsweek, which noted the image was widely disseminated without its medical context.[vi] It was also not an isolated case; similar use of images of sick or disabled children to illustrate famine in Gaza had recurred since 2024.[vii]
The relevant question is not whether Gazans experienced hunger during a prolonged war, but whether that hunger was the result of Israeli intent to destroy the population – the claim the term “genocide” requires. The evidence does not support this, as Israel kept crossings open and coordinated with international humanitarian agencies when it could throughout the war. Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) reported that over 1.78 million tons of food entered the Gaza Strip just between October 2025 and June 2026; when aid entered in volume, market prices for staple goods fell.[viii] [ix] Even the UN admitted that 90% of the aid delivered on its trucks did not reach the intended recipients because they were looted by desperate civilians or “forcefully armed actors.”[x] [xi] Despite the argument of the GenoLIE advocates, Israel rejected the August 2025 famine designation because it relied on Hamas-influenced data and criteria applied inconsistently.[xii] The famine designation was also highly controversial, as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) lowered the threshold for determining a legitimate famine and used new metrics in order to apply the designation to Gaza.[xiii]
Israel actually took significant action to prevent starvation in Gaza:
- In July 2025, the IDF began daily 10-hour pauses in its military operations – from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. – across al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City, and designated permanent secure routes, open from 6 a.m. until 11 p.m., for UN aid convoys.[xiv]
- Israel also carried out its own airdrops of flour, sugar and canned goods, and coordinated the resumption of foreign airdrops by Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.[xv]
- Over 70,000 cubic meters of water are supplied to Gaza daily through water pipelines, desalination facilities, and other infrastructure to increase the supply of water and protect the sanitation and hygiene in the Strip.[xvi] [xvii]
Deliberate starvation to decimate a people would require conduct incompatible with Israel’s actions. A state pursuing that end does not maintain border crossings, coordinate with the UN and NGOs, or facilitate large-scale aid deliveries that limit its military operations against Hamas and its terror infrastructure.
The deprivation in Gaza is the result of the war Hamas initiated, the embedding of its forces within the civilian population, and the organized theft of aid. The prominence of the starving-child image was intended to establish the conclusion of famine before the facts were examined. Once the manufactured context of the leading example is removed, the case for a deliberate famine, and the larger GenoLIE, does not hold.
The “Gaza Genocide” is one of the biggest lies of the 21st century. It was generated and promoted by anti-Zionist and antisemitic networks following the October 7 Massacre to prevent Israel from saving its hostages, delegitimize the Jewish state, and fuel global antisemitism.
Read the next piece to learn more on the Gaza GenoLIE puzzle.
[i]Coverage of the New York Times front-page image and the ensuing controversy, July–August 2025. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/08/04/how-a-photo-of-a-skeletal-child-sparked-controversy-about-starvation-in-gaza
[ii]May 2025 Gaza medical report on al-Matouq (cerebral palsy; suspected genetic disorder), first reported by independent researcher David Collier (a pro-Israel investigator), July 2025. https://david-collier.com/the-truth-behind-the-viral-gaza-famine-photo/
[iii]Additional frames from the same photo set, reported across multiple outlets, July 2025. https://www.newsweek.com/how-viral-image-fueling-fight-over-reports-starvation-gaza-2105301
[iv]“NY Times admits emaciated Gazan boy on front page had ‘pre-existing health problems,’” The Times of Israel, July 30, 2025; NYT editorial note, July 30, 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ny-times-admits-emaciated-gazan-boy-on-front-page-had-pre-existing-health-problems/
[v] The Free Press, “They Became Symbols for Gazan Starvation. But All 12 Suffer from Other Health Problems.” August 18, 2025, https://www.thefp.com/p/they-became-symbols-for-gazan-starvation
[vi]Euronews, Aug. 4, 2025; Newsweek, July 2025. https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/08/04/how-a-photo-of-a-skeletal-child-sparked-controversy-about-starvation-in-gaza; https://www.newsweek.com/how-viral-image-fueling-fight-over-reports-starvation-gaza-2105301
[vii]David Collier reporting on recurring miscaptioned imagery, 2025. https://david-collier.com/the-truth-behind-the-viral-gaza-famine-photo/
[viii]COGAT / Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs figures on aid entry, 2025 (Israeli-government source). https://embassies.gov.il/multilateral-organizations-france/en/news/israel-firmly-rejects-ipc-gaza-report
[ix] The Times of Israel, “COGAT says Gaza aid has ‘significantly exceeded’ requirements during ceasefire,” July 9, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/cogat-says-gaza-aid-significantly-exceeded-requirements-during-ceasefire/
[x]Reporting on looting and convoy raids in Gaza by Hamas, armed gangs, and civilians, 2025. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2025/0825/gaza-palestine-food-famine-ipc-israel
[xi] The NY Post, “90% of UN aid trucks in Gaza were looted by starving Palestinians, ‘armed actors’ before reaching destinations: officials,” August 5, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/08/05/world-news/90-of-un-aid-trucks-in-gaza-were-looted-by-armed-militants-or-hungry-palestinians-before-reaching-their-destination-report/
[xii]COGAT / Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs response to the IPC report, August 2025 (Israeli-government source). https://embassies.gov.il/multilateral-organizations-france/en/news/israel-firmly-rejects-ipc-gaza-report
[xiii] FDD, “Global Food Insecurity Scale Was Eased in Order to Declare ‘Famine’ in Gaza,” August 13, 2025, https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/08/13/global-food-insecurity-scale-was-eased-in-order-to-declare-famine-in-gaza/
[xiv] IDF announcement of daily tactical pauses and secure aid routes, NPR, July 27, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/27/nx-s1-5481749/israel-pause-fighting-gaza-hunger ;
[xv] Israel to allow aid drops in Gaza amid mounting outrage over hunger crisis, NBC, July 25, 2025, https://www.nbcnews.com/world/gaza/israel-lets-foreign-countries-drop-aid-gaza-hunger-crisis-rcna221029
[xvi] “Israel is pausing operations in some parts of Gaza,” CNN, July 28, 2025, https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/27/middleeast/israel-pausing-operations-gaza-starvation-intl
[xvii] The Times of Israel, “COGAT says Gaza aid has ‘significantly exceeded’ requirements during ceasefire,” July 9, 2026, https://www.timesofisrael.com/cogat-says-gaza-aid-significantly-exceeded-requirements-during-ceasefire/