The following submission by United Nations Watch was made to the Human Rights Council and published as an official document of the 57th session of the Human Rights Council.
A/HRC/57/NGO/119: Accusation Israel Starves Gaza Civilians Is Patently False
Excerpt: This slanderous accusation was based on a March report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) claiming that famine was imminent in Gaza and that 1.1 million people there were experiencing catastrophic food insecurity. At the time, COGAT, the IDF unit responsible for coordinating humanitarian aid to Gaza, blasted that report for “multiple factual and methodological flaws, some of them serious.” Among other things, COGAT explained that the IPC significantly underreported the amount of water available per person per day in Gaza as 1 liter instead of 20 liters, lacked up-to-date data, relied on misleading information from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, and ignored public evidence on the availability of food throughout Gaza, including in the North. Notably, in June 2024, the IPC’s Famine Review Committee reversed its earlier famine classification stating that “the available evidence does not indicate that Famine is currently occurring.”
Moreover, the humanitarian aid data easily contradicts this false accusation. Indeed, Israel has consistently facilitated the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid to Gaza since the early days of the war. As of August 12, Israel had facilitated the entry of more than 875,000 tons of aid into Gaza since the beginning of the war, including more than 740,000 tons of food and water. Even in March and April when some of the above statements were made, both UN and COGAT data showed that six months into the war, 272,000 tons of food had entered Gaza, more than double the required amount according to the WFP. Notably, in April, the World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed the activity in food markets throughout Gaza, including sales of humanitarian aid, contradicting claims of starvation.
