Famine Expert: Israel’s Starvation of Gaza Has No Parallel in Modern Times
TruthoutFeb 15
Starvation in Gaza Used as Weapon of War, Says EU
Image copyright: Ahmad Hasaballah/StringerGetty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that Gaza's humanitarian crisis is "manmade," and accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war, which the nation vehemently denies. Gaza's health ministry reported that at least 27 people had died of starvation in the last two weeks.
The UN used a new land route — an Israeli military road — to deliver food to northern Gaza on Tuesday for the first time in three weeks, after aid agencies warned that at least 576K Palestinians, or around one-quarter of Gaza's population, are on the brink of famine.
The Spin
Pro-Palestine narrative
Israel is purposefully creating a famine in Gaza at a rate unprecedented in the post-WWII era. Israeli forces have been blocking food, water, and other necessities from entering the strip since the war began, and have intensified those efforts to create a horrific and dehumanizing situation for Palestinians, with people being forced to drink contaminated water and eat whatever they can find, including grass. This level of cruelty is simply unfathomable, and Israel must be held accountable for these atrocious crimes.
Pro-establishment narrative
Israel must be able to defend itself from terrorist attacks from Gaza or elsewhere, and the US is committed to preventing malicious actors from threatening Israel's legitimate concerns. However, the Biden admin. is losing its patience with Netanyahu's intransigence. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is rapidly getting out of hand, and must be remedied. The Biden admin. is committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of Palestinian civilians and is now taking its own steps to alleviate this dreadful situation.
Pro-Israel narrative
Regardless of the fallacies reported in the media, Israel has made extraordinary efforts to spare civilians the brunt of its military might at every step. The UN — which has consistently demonstrated its anti-Israel bias — and its incompetence are the primary cause of the current food shortages in Gaza, which will hopefully be remedied soon. Indeed, Israel keeps facilitating more and more routes for aid to get into Gaza, directly hindering its war effort. However, critics — who have completely forgotten Hamas' atrocities on Oct. 7 — still refuse to treat Israel fairly.
Nerd narrative
There's a 1% chance that any EU member state will directly intervene in the Israel-Gaza War before July 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
