Netanyahu: Hamas' "hunger campaign" will not stop us

The famine campaign "orchestrated by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas will not stop us from freeing our hostages and eliminating Hamas," he said in response to a sensational report by the IPC initiative, recognized worldwide as an authority on food security.

Netanyahu had previously approved plans to capture the city of Gaza in the north of the sealed-off Gaza Strip. Israel's military is preparing to relocate the estimated one million inhabitants to tent camps in the south. According to the IPC initiative, the lives of 132,000 children under the age of five are at risk due to malnutrition. 41,000 of these are considered to be particularly serious cases, twice as many as in the previous assessment in May. The district in question is Gaza, where the city is located.

"Some days I can only find a small loaf of bread and a tomato to share between three children," complains Mariam al-Scheikh. Getting her children something to eat is a daily struggle, the 34-year-old from the city of Gaza tells the German Press Agency. She often spends hours searching for bread or canned food. At night, she hears the youngest of her children crying from hunger. "More than half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterized by hunger, poverty and death," says the IPC initiative's report.

Netanyahu: Only the hostages are deliberately exposed to hunger

Netanyahu described the report as an "outright lie". According to Israel, the IPC Initiative's assessment is based on false information provided by Hamas. "The report deliberately ignores data presented to the authors in a meeting prior to its publication and completely overlooks the efforts made in recent weeks to stabilize the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip," explained the responsible Israeli authority Cogat. However, it remained unclear what data was involved.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke of intent in connection with the famine. What is happening now is the "deliberate collapse of the systems that are necessary for human survival". As an occupying power, Israel has clear obligations. Israel always rejects such statements and accusations. The country in turn accuses the UN of not distributing aid supplies that were available in the Gaza Strip. Israel is not pursuing a policy of starvation, but of hunger prevention, Netanyahu emphasized. "The only people who are deliberately exposed to hunger in Gaza are the Israeli hostages," he explained.

Israel is under increasing pressure

Israel is under considerable international pressure to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Reports of malnourished children sparked worldwide outrage and contributed to countries such as France, Canada and Australia announcing plans to recognize a Palestinian state. Germany stopped part of its arms exports to Israel after Israel declared it would escalate the Gaza war.

One day before the IPC report was published, the Israeli leadership had approved the military deployment plans for the capture of the city of Gaza. Defense Minister Israel Katz announced intensive attacks. "The gates of hell will soon open on the murderers and rapists of Hamas in Gaza - until they agree to Israel's terms to end the war". Otherwise the city will be destroyed. There was speculation in Israel that this could be a negotiating tactic to put pressure on Hamas.

Israel: ending the war only on our terms

Israel's demands for an end to the war are the disarmament of Hamas, the return of all hostages, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip, security control over the coastal area by Israel and a civil administration that is not exercised by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank. Netanyahu has now held out the prospect of new negotiations on the release of the hostages and an end to the war on terms "that are acceptable to Israel".

A few days earlier, Hamas said it had agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire from the mediators. According to media reports, this is an adapted version of a previously negotiated proposal by US special envoy Steve Witkoff. It provides for a 60-day ceasefire during which ten live hostages will be released in return for Palestinian prisoners. There are still a total of 50 hostages in the Gaza Strip, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

According to recent media reports, Netanyahu only agreed to a deal if all hostages were released at once and the war ended on Israel's terms. Indirect negotiations on a new ceasefire have so far been unsuccessful and were recently interrupted. The mediators - the USA, Qatar and Egypt - are trying to resume contacts.