The Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office condemned a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification on Friday, which officially declared famine in the Gaza Strip.
The ministry called it “a tailor-made fabricated report to fit Hamas’s fake campaign,” while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office argued that, “Israel has a policy of preventing starvation,” not creating it.
“Unbelievably, the IPC twisted its own rules and ignored its own criteria just to produce false accusations against Israel: the IPC changed its own global standard, cutting the 30% threshold to 15% for this report only, and totally ignored its second criterion of death rate, solely to serve Hamas’s fake campaign,” the ministry wrote.
The “entire IPC document is based on Hamas‘s lies laundered through organizations with vested interests,” the statement said.
“The laws of supply and demand don’t lie – the IPC does. Every forecast the IPC has made regarding Gaza during the war has proven baseless and completely false. This assessment, too, will be thrown into the despicable trash bin of political documents.”
The PMO listed data provided by The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) and the Defense Ministry, highlighting the volume of aid Israel has provided to the Gaza Strip. Two million tons of aid have entered Gaza since October 7, 2023, which is one ton of aid per capita, the statement said.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has supplied 2.2 million relief packages to Gazans, the equivalent of 132 million meals.
“Like all previous IPC reports, this one ignores Israel’s humanitarian efforts and Hamas’s systematic theft,” the PMO said, recalling UN data that said that of the 1,012 aid trucks collected, only 10 reached warehouses as a result of looting carried out by armed terrorists and militias.
“Hamas steals aid to finance its war machine. These were the causes of temporary shortages, which Israel overcame with airdrops, maritime deliveries, safe transport routes, and GHF distribution points manned by American companies,” the office said.
“According to John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, no other country at war has gone to such lengths to feed the civilian population in enemy territory,” the PMO continued, arguing that the only ones being intentionally starved in Gaza are the Israeli hostages.
The office called these accusations a modern blood libel. “History will judge those who peddle it. The IPC must end its double standards against the Jewish state.”
COGAT also rejects the IPC report on Gaza
COGAT also addressed the IPC report, “categorically rejecting the claim of famine in the Gaza Strip, and particularly in Gaza City.”
“Previous reports and assessments by the IPC have repeatedly been proven inaccurate and do not reflect the reality on the ground,” the statement read. “The report deliberately disregards data that was provided to its authors in a meeting held prior to its publication, and completely overlooks the efforts made in recent weeks to stabilize the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
“The IPC report is based on partial and unreliable sources, many of them affiliated with Hamas, and blatantly ignores the facts and the extensive humanitarian efforts led by the State of Israel and its international partners,” Maj.-Gen. Ghassan Alian, head of COGAT, said.
“We expect the international community to act responsibly and not be swept away by false narratives and unfounded propaganda, but rather to examine the complete data and the facts on the ground,” he said.
“The IPC report is not only biased but also serves Hamas’s propaganda campaign,” the agency said.
Internal data from the Israeli security establishment shows a sharp decline in the prices of basic goods in Gaza following the massive influx of humanitarian aid into the Strip in recent weeks.
According to the data, which was presented to decision-makers, prices of essential products in Gaza’s markets have dropped by dozens of percentage points.
Officials say the price cuts reflect the impact of continuous aid convoys, which have flooded the enclave with flour, rice, sugar, and other staples.
For example, a kilogram of flour, which cost between NIS 80-100 about three weeks ago, is now priced at NIS 18; a kilogram of sugar, which cost NIS 300, now costs NIS 50; and a kilogram of pasta dropped from NIS 100 to NIS 10.
The global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and the surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine, and it will likely spread.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system said 514,000 people – nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza – are experiencing famine, with the number due to rise to 641,000 by the end of September.
Some 280,000 of those people are in a northern region covering Gaza City – known as Gaza governorate – which the IPC said was in famine following nearly two years of war between Israel and Hamas.