Trucks carrying aid move, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hussam Al-Masri

Israel has rejected claims that its military policies have triggered a famine in Gaza, describing such accusations as inaccurate, politically driven, and detached from reality.

The Israeli government has facilitated the entry of hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza, officials said this week, condemning international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies. One senior security official told reporters on Tuesday that there is no famine in Gaza, pointing to over 950 truckloads of food, water, and medical supplies that are currently stalled at border crossings such as Kerem Shalom.

“We know the calorie value of each truck that enters, and how many people it is enough for,” the official said according to The Times of Israel.

Israel has assigned responsibility to the UN for logistical failures which may have caused a breakdown in aid distribution within Gaza.

According to the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military and Defense Ministry body responsible for coordinating aid deliveries to Gaza, said the stockpiled aid in the enclave could sustain the population for over two weeks if properly distributed.

“The bottleneck isn’t on our side,” the official said. “The aid is there. It’s the UN and its partners who aren’t moving it.”

The official added, “We have not identified starvation at this current point in time, but we understand that action is required to stabilize the humanitarian situation.”

WATCH: 950 trucks worth of aid, currently waiting in Gazafor international organizations to pick up and distribute to Gazan civilians. This is after Israel facilitated the aid entry into Gaza. pic.twitter.com/aQTR7Sryhs

— LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) July 22, 2025

Israel has argued that false claims of mass starvation are being amplified by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, and international humanitarian organizations to manipulate global opinion. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry claims, without evidence, that more than 100 people have died from malnutrition in the beleaguered enclave. Israeli officials emphasize that these figures are unverified and may be inflated for propaganda purposes.

Western-backed attempts to bypass Hamas, such as the US-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), have served Palestinians in Gaza over the past few months. However, tragic incidents, including tramplings and occasional gunfire, have killed hundreds of Palestinians attempting to obtain aid at one of GHF’s four distribution sites. Hamas has accused Israel of shooting Palestinian civilians at aid distribution sites. Israel has denied these unverified claims.

The GFH has called on the UN to publicly condemn the killing of aid workers in Gaza by Hamas and to collaborate in order to provide relief to the enclave’s population, accusing the UN of perpetuating a “vast disinformation campaign” aimed at tarnishing the US- and Israel-backed foundation’s image.

Despite the difficulties, the program is seen by Israeli and US officials as a more accountable and secure system than aid distributed through traditional UN agencies, which Israeli investigations have revealed as hotbeds of corruption and infiltration by Hamas operatives.

Nonetheless, international pressure is building on Israel to ramp up aid distribution. However, Israel argues that the international community fails to account for Hamas’s tactics, including documented cases of aid theft and interference with humanitarian workers.

On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) published footage showing five Hamas fighters smiling while eating an assortment of fruits and rice, casting doubt over allegations of a famine in the Gaza Strip. The IDF also released additional recordings from Gaza showing thousands of aid pallets waiting for UN distribution.

“Israel is not preventing the entry of aid trucks or humanitarian shipment into the Gaza. The aid is already across the fence inside the Gaza Strip, ready for distribution, but the UN chooses to slander Israel instead of delivering the food, which now sits idle and rotting,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The post Israel Denies Gaza ‘Famine’ Claims, Condemns Failed UN Food Distribution Efforts first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards in Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Hungary has banned members of the Irish rap trio Kneecap from entering the country for three years ahead of their scheduled performance at a major music festival, due to national security concerns surrounding what critics have decried as the band’s antisemitic hate speech and their alleged support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Belfast-based band is scheduled to perform on the closing day of the Sziget Festival in Budapest on Aug. 11. Kneecap has stirred controversy recently for a series of anti-Israel comments and a band member’s alleged support for Hamas and Hezbollah, which are proscribed terrorist organizations in the United Kingdom and United States. Kneecap has denied support for both Iran-backed Islamist terror groups.

Hungary’s immigration authority, the National Directorate-General for Aliens Policing, announced in a Hungarian-language degree on Thursday that Kneecap members Naoise Ó Cairealláin, J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, and Liam Óg ÓhAnnaidh are banned from entering Hungary for three years because their “entry and stay constitute a serious threat to national security.”

Zoltan Kovacs, Hungary’s secretary of state for international communications, further explained in an English-language social media post on Thursday that Kneecap cannot enter Hungarian territory due to their history supporting “antisemitism and glorifying terror.” Kovacs added, “Granting them a stage normalizes hate and terror, and puts democratic values on the line.”

Kneecap’s members “repeatedly engage in antisemitic hate speech supporting terrorism and terrorist groups” and Hungary “has zero tolerance for antisemitism in any form,” he continued. “Their planned performance posed a national security threat, and for this reason, the group has been formally banned from Hungary for three years. If they enter, expulsion will follow under international norms.”

Hungarian authorities — including Hungary’s Minister for European Affairs János Bóka – members of Hungary’s music industry, and others have been pressuring organizers of the Sziget Festival for some time to cancel the band’s performance because of their comments and behavior, characterizing them as antisemitic. Sziget Festival organizers said in a statement they think the decision to ban Kneecap from Hungary is “unnecessary and regrettable” and may “not only damage the reputation of Sziget, but also negatively affect Hungary’s standing worldwide.”

“Sziget Festival’s values mean we condemn hate speech, while guaranteeing the fundamental right to artistic freedom of expression for every performer,” they added. “Cancel culture and cultural boycotts are not the solution.”

Since Kneecap displayed anti-Israel messaging on stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California in April, two major music festivals in Germany canceled the band’s performances, and their performances were also canceled at the Eden Project concert series and the TRNSMT festival – both in the UK. Kneecap was further dropped from its US booking agency, and television personality Sharon Osbourne called for their US visas to be revoked.

The Hungarian government has been a vocal supporter of Israel in recent months, going against much of the rest of Europe, which has grown increasingly critical of the Jewish state over its military campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

In April, Hungary’s parliament approved the country’s decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) because of its “political” stance against Israel and the Jewish state’s military actions during its war against Hamas terrorists in the enclave responsible for the massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The post Hungary Bans Anti-Israel Irish Band Kneecap for Three Years Citing National Security Concerns first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Ozzy Osbourne of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath arrives at the 56th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, Jan. 26, 2014. Photo: REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

Rock and heavy metal music legend Ozzy Osbourne, who died on Tuesday morning at the age 0f 76, had a life that involved activism for pro-Israel and Jewish causes as well as two trips to Israel and a home life that integrated Judaism with the help of his wife, Jewish television personality Sharon Osbourne.

The family of the British musician announced his passing in a released statement. He is survived by his wife Sharon, their children – Kelly, Jack, and Aimee – and his son Louis from his previous marriage to Thelma Riley.

Earlier this month, the nicknamed “Prince of Darkness,” who lived with Parkinson’s disease, played his final show with Black Sabbath at Villa Park in his home city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, where he had been living with his family. Osbourne, whose real name is John Michael Osbourne, co-founded his heavy metal band Black Sabbath in 1968. The band’s name came from its original bassist Geezer Butler, who was inspired by the 1963 horror film “Black Sabbath.”

In a statement given to The Algemeiner on Thursday, Ari Ingel – the executive director of the non-profit, pro-Israel organization Creative Community for Peace (CCFP) — praised the musician as “not only a pioneer in metal, but also a steadfast supporter of Israel and the Jewish people.” Osbourne has given support to several CCFP initiatives in the past. The organization is comprised of prominent members of the entertainment community who make an effort to combat antisemitism and cultural boycotts of Israel.

“Throughout difficult times, the Osbourne family has stood proudly with the Jewish people and showed unwavering solidarity,” Ingel added in his statement. “Leave it to Ozzy to be present and take part in his own epic tribute concert just weeks ago. That’s a true legend. Ozzy may be gone, but legends like him don’t die — they echo forever. As we honor his extraordinary legacy, CCFP sends its deepest condolences to Sharon, their children, and all who loved him. Our hearts are with the Osbourne family during this painful time. May his memory be a blessing.”

In October 2024, Osbourne signed a CCFP open letter condemning cultural boycotts of Jewish and Israeli authors and literary institutions. He performed in Israel twice – first with 2010’s Ozzfest in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park and then in 2018 at Live Park in Rishon Lezion as part of his “No More Tours 2” tour. During his trips to the Jewish state, he visited Jerusalem’s Old City, the Western Wall, and Yad Vashem – The World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

When the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) aired a documentary in March that was accused of promoting Hamas propaganda and anti-Israel sentiments, Osbourne signed a CCFP open letter that called on the BBC to launch a full investigation into its “bias against Israel.”

The post Rock Legend, Black Sabbath Co-Founder Ozzy Osbourne Was a ‘Steadfast Supporter of Israel, Jewish People’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.