Israeli premier says army took photos of thousands of prisoners from enclave, claiming no one appeared 'emaciated'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied on Tuesday that people in the Gaza Strip are starving and that Israel has a policy of starvation, despite international assessments that the territory is at a critical risk of famine.
In a speech at a conference, Netanyahu said the Israeli army took photos for thousands of Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, claiming none of them appeared "emaciated."
"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 said.
He 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 back his claim by evidence, which goes against 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.
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.
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 rushed to an aid point run by the GHF on Tuesday, according to the Gaza media office.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.
