Netanyahu Denies Starvation in Gaza, despite ‘Aid Center’ Overrun by Starving Crowds
At least three Palestinians were killed and 46 wounded after the Israeli military opened fire on crowds who overran an aid point on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied on Tuesday that Palestinians in Gaza are starving and that Israel has a policy of starvation, the Anadolu news agency reported.
His statements in a speech at a conference come despite international assessments that the territory is at a critical risk of famine.
Netanyahu said the Israeli army took photos of thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, claiming none of them appeared “emaciated.”
At least 3 Palestinians died when thousands of starving people rushed to an aid distribution point run by the controversial ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’, amid criticism of the operation from aid agencies. pic.twitter.com/s8lomLws1V
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 28, 2025
“Thousands and thousands of prisoners taking their shirt off and you don’t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of the war to the present,” he reportedly said.
The premier claimed that Israel decided to supply the civilian population of Gaza with “essential requirements: food, water, medicine” since the early days of the war.
The premier, however, did not provide evidence of his claim, the report said, in the face of international and UN warnings that Gazans are suffering from high levels of acute food insecurity.
His statement also affirmed that Israeli forces arrested thousands of people from Gaza.
Three Killed among Crowd
Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid since March 2, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave. Many people, including children, have died of malnutrition and authorities in Gaza have already classified the situation as famine.
Gaza Aid Center Overrun by Starving Crowds, US Personnel Flee
Bypassing the UN and international relief organizations, the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) said it began operations on Monday. Its involvement in an Israeli-controlled aid mechanism has raised concern among humanitarian actors who say meaningful relief requires large-scale sustained access.
At least three Palestinians were killed and 46 wounded after the Israeli military opened fire on crowds who overran an aid point run by the GHF on Tuesday, according to the Gaza media office.
Condemnation
Ajith Sunghay, Head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, told a Geneva press conference that “What we saw yesterday was a very clear example of the dangers of distributing food.”
“We are exposing people to death and injury,” he added.
A new mechanism to manage starvation instead of ending it, and Israeli helicopters open fire on thousands of starving people crushed in the chaos.
This is how the first day of allowed aid entry into Gaza looked like.. pic.twitter.com/VDGK0foDZ2
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 27, 2025
Ismail Thawabta, Director-General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, condemned the Israeli response and held the occupation fully responsible for the incident. He described it as a “disastrous failure,” stating that Israeli forces opened fire on civilians, wounding several.
The Government Media Office reiterated its rejection of Israeli-supervised “buffer zones” and “humanitarian corridors,” asserting that these mechanisms are being used as tools of political blackmail.
There is no returning from this. This is the end of the line. Any ideology that ends up in this has failed some basic test and needs to be dismantled pic.twitter.com/AOgkHE3Alp
— Alonso Gurmendi (@Alonso_GD) May 27, 2025
Thawabta condemned the weaponization of humanitarian aid and criticized Israel’s continued prevention of official UN and NGO aid deliveries through established crossings.
Looting
Hours after the incident, UN trucks delivering food to Gaza were stopped and looted overnight, Reuters reported, citing Gaza residents and merchants.
At least 20 trucks belonging to the UN World Food Programme were attacked shortly before midnight, a Palestinian transporter operator reportedly said.
A Palestinian man recounted his experience walking 10km to reach a US aid distribution point in Gaza, witnessing someone getting shot dead on the way. pic.twitter.com/w2mm2iGD7q
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 28, 2025
“Some trucks made it through, then it seems that people became aware of that,” a witness who declined to be named, told Reuters via a chat app.
“They woke up, some placed barriers on the road intercepted and stole the goods,” he reportedly added.
WFP chief: Hamas is not looting aid trucks. These are just desperate civilians https://t.co/weqfXphq9v
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) May 27, 2025
Ramy Abdu, Director of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, revealed that the aid distributed in Rafah had originally belonged to Rahma International Foundation. According to Abdu, the American company and the Israeli army misled the organization and confiscated its trucks to use them in their own politically motivated aid program.
(PC, Anadolu, Agencies)
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