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Israel’s Policy in Gaza Is the Opposite of the ‘Deliberate Starvation’ Lie

Israeli military vehicles move near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in southern Israel, Dec. 31, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura

It has been more than 100 days since thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and launched an unprovoked genocidal pogrom on Israeli civilians — brutally raping, torturing, and murdering more than 1,200 men, women, and children in the most cruel depraved barbaric ways, as well as kidnapping more than 240 people.

It was the darkest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

Israel, as is its right and its duty, responded to the attack and took the fight to the Hamas terrorists, giving meaning to the words “Never Again.”

But as soon as Israel fought back against those who wanted a genocide of the Jews, the world began to predictably demand Israel show restraint — even as Hamas vowed to carry out more October 7 style massacres and even as they continue to fire rockets into Israel.

Within weeks, many people completely forgot about October 7, as if it somehow never happened, and began focusing exclusively on the plight of Gazan civilians, brushing aside the thousands of dead and injured and kidnapped Israelis as well as the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who remain refugees in their own country after they were forced to leave their homes due to the dangers of Hamas and Hezbollah attacks.

Israel, despite being the victim of the heinous attack, was somehow accused of being responsible for all the misery that had now befallen Gaza. There was no mention of the fact that the vast majority of civilians in Gaza had always supported Hamas’ rule, which had always included terror attacks against Israelis and promises to murder Jews.

In a series of malicious lies, Israel was accused of deliberately targeting civilians, starving the population, denying them water and electricity, and destroying their homes.

South Africa, despite having one of the highest murder rates in the world and an increasing inability to even reliably supply electricity to its own population, still found the time and resources to effectively act as Hamas’ lawyers, dragging Israel before the International Court of Justice to answer patently absurd charges of “genocide” in Gaza.

South Africa and others who make such factually nonsensical claims insist that Israel is deliberately starving the people of Gaza by denying them the “means of life.” They usually cite, as evidence, a phrase uttered by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, in which, describing the plans to pressure Hamas to release the hostages, Gallant said, “I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed.”

Yet it is self-evident that this has not been Israel’s actual policy — huge amounts of food, water, and fuel have been entering Gaza, with Israel’s active assistance, over the past 100 days of war.

Between October 7 and mid-January, more than 130,000 tons of humanitarian aid carried by 8,621 trucks had entered the Gaza Strip — most of this food, but also many tons of medical supplies and other essentials. On January 14 alone, 237 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza — the single largest amount since the beginning of the war.

These included tankers with cooking oil and fuel for the operation of generators for essential infrastructure services, such as hospitals, sewage treatment plants, and water pumps.

While Israel initially cut off the water it supplied to Gaza — which only amounted to 8% of Gaza’s total consumption before the war — it began resuming such water supplies to Gaza on Oct. 15. Israel has also facilitated successful repairs of vital water infrastructure, including fixing water pipes that Hamas itself destroyed.

In addition to this, field hospitals have been set up and are expected to be operational in the coming days.

Israel has also continually implemented daily pauses in its military operations between 10:00 and 14:00 to facilitate and enable movement of humanitarian aid and allow Gazan residents to replenish their supplies of food and water.

It’s important to note that Israel has placed absolutely no upper limit on humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, only requiring that all aid trucks be inspected. If there are shortages of essentials in Gaza, it is because humanitarian organizations themselves have been unable to keep up with the aid demand or are failing to distribute it effectively.

Despite the narrative being spun by many that Israel is preventing aid from entering Gaza, the real truth is the opposite. Israel, rather than targeting civilians, has done everything it can reasonably be expected to, and more, to try to help the Palestinian population while also fighting a deadly war under indescribably difficult conditions — including Hamas’ all-encompassing efforts to intertwine all of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure with its military machine.

It therefore seems truly astonishing that pressure is constantly placed on Israel to fix Gaza’s humanitarian situation, while no demands are ever made of Hamas, the actual terrorist organization that initiated this war, which continues to steal aid, uses civilians as human shields, and currently holds 136 hostages — many of whom have been murdered.

The uncomfortable reality is that the world has funded Hamas’ terror state, and instead of electricity plants and desalination plants and educational institutions and engineering schools, the money and materials received were used to build over 500 kilometers of underground tunnels and command structures under hospitals, and establish an armory of thousands and thousands of military weapons and rockets that were used for terror attacks.

How could all that aid be so blatantly abused? It’s a question that the world should demand answers to from Hamas, not Israel.

Perhaps the Hamas billionaire leaders sitting in luxury hotels in Qatar might be able to answer it.

Justin Amler is a Policy Analyst at the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC).

The post Israel’s Policy in Gaza Is the Opposite of the ‘Deliberate Starvation’ Lie first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.

Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.

“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”

GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’

Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.

“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.

“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.

“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.

After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”

RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL

Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”

Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.

“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”

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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests

A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco

Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.

People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.

“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”

Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.

On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.

Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.

On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.

“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.

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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan

Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas

Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.

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