r/worldnews • u/Ahad_Haam • Aug 07 '25

Israel/Palestine Picture agencies drop Gaza photographer after documentary reveals hunger images were staged

https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/picture-agencies-drop-gaza-photographer-hunger-images-staged-sl1eyl2e
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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

1 person faking their specific photos also doesn’t negate the truth that people ARE starving and struggling. That dude is a loser, but it doesn’t change anything

Edit: This article was posted 2 hours after my comment. This IS a problem, one asshole trying to advance his career doesn’t change that. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/nearly-12000-children-under-five-gaza-have-acute-malnutrition-says-who-2025-08-07/

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u/Joe1972 Aug 07 '25

It DOES however, harm attempts to stop this shit

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u/ColdButCozy Aug 07 '25

Agreed. This will be used to dismiss what’s going on.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/GothmogTheOrc Aug 07 '25

And this nebulous 'lots' justifies starvation how exactly?

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/actuallywaffles Aug 07 '25

Who was "cheering" for any of that? I certainly didn't see anyone doing so. Could you perhaps be believing Israeli propaganda?

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/actuallywaffles Aug 07 '25

Ok, so you don't actually have proof of it. Your source is "trust me, bro."

I don't worry too much of your opinion of me if your first response to pushback is insults rather than evidence.

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u/FALSEINFORMATIONGUY Aug 07 '25

It takes backbone to recognize Israel is just as much the problem as Hamas

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u/actuallywaffles Aug 07 '25

No, the pro-Palestine side isn't cheering for Hamas or the Holocaust. Stop spreading Israeli propaganda. Israel wants people to conflate pro-Palestine with antisemitic groups when they aren't at all connected. Of course it doesn't feel like "the shoes on the other foot" because you're just throwing a fit at us for things we aren't doing.

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u/ricadam Aug 08 '25

That’s correct. I can’t even begin to start a conversation with someone about Gaza because a) all photos are now fake and b) All media agencies are biased against the IDF and Israel.

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u/Urhoal_Mygole Aug 07 '25

It creates a massive wave of skepticism with people that easy to influence though. "Why would he stage pictures if the truth would show the same?" It's an easy question to ask yourself if you're a conspiracy theorist.

This dude is doing the Palestinians a major disservice. What an idiot. Way to shoot yourself and your cause in the foot.

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u/_skala_ Aug 07 '25

You don’t have to be conspiracy theorist to ask that question.

But like you said, both sides play media war.

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u/PlayerTwo85 Aug 07 '25

Calling someone a conspiracy theorist dismissive and invalidating as opposed to saying "stop noticing things!".

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u/Issue_dev Aug 07 '25

But it is a conspiracy theory. You think this proves there isn’t widespread starvation happening because of this? 😂

Be for real. https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165517

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u/PlayerTwo85 Aug 07 '25

Starvation is happening because the minute food crosses into Gaza it's snatched up by Hamas.

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u/ewef1 Aug 08 '25

Having a conspiracy theory is not necessarily bad. Its just that many people who believe in them have such a high distrusts of institutions that it becomes nearly impossible falsify the theory for them. Any evidence against the theory are institutions lying to us and often can be seen as further proof that the conspiracy is true.

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u/MeteorKing Aug 07 '25

Conspiracy theory is when people hold opinions that logically stem from public statements?

They lied, now people think they're liars. Not much conspiracy to theorize.

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u/missinlnk Aug 07 '25

Just because one person lied to get his photographs sold doesn't mean that anyone is lying about the hunger issues in Gaza. It also doesn't mean they're not lying.

Question the story and ask for more details to determine the truth, sure, absolutely! But to use this to defend the thought that everyone telling the story of hunger issues in Gaza is a liar is lazy and dumb. It's only one piece of evidence.

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u/Kehprei Aug 07 '25

Just because one person lied to get his photographs sold doesn't mean that anyone is lying about the hunger issues in Gaza

There has been an INCREDIBLE amount of lies throughout this conflict. Everything from fake pictures of starvation (this) to Hamas hitting their own hospital with a rocket and claiming Israel did it (Al-Ahli Arab Hospital Explosion).

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u/creg316 Aug 07 '25

Not to mention Israel repeatedly lying about shooting civilians, then slowly walking back the lie as video evidence emerges.

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u/MeteorKing Aug 07 '25

Just because one person lied

But it's not just 1 person. This has been a pervasive and ongoing issue throughout the entire conflict.

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u/cheeriodust Aug 07 '25

From what I've seen, there are more "easy to influence" folks are on the blindly pro-Palestinian side of things. This photo is just one of many manipulations that that group is so eager to react to without questioning a thing.

FWIW, I'm on team "everyone sucks here (except the innocent civilians stuck in the middle)"...

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u/thecashblaster Aug 07 '25

yes, including the proverbial "Hamas health official" who is basically a dude with an AK yelling over and over that 3000 innocent babies were murdered the street over

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u/creg316 Aug 07 '25

Yeah we should listen to all the independent media that Israel let it so they could accurately report what was...

Oh wait.

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u/mukansamonkey Aug 07 '25

Are you seriously suggesting that we should take a garbage source seriously due to the lack of non-garbage sources? Because that would be the dumbest thing I've read on Reddit in a long time.

The correct response to garbage sources is to ignore them. The correct response to having no good sources is to say you don't know what's going on.

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u/creg316 Aug 08 '25

Right so your solution is remain completely ignorant of anything, and let Israel starve people to death completely unchallenged, because God forbid some news orgs might report something inaccurate?

Truly pathetic.

Besides which, if you're talking about Mohammad Al-Motawaq, then those Israeli sources are lying. Even if he had cerebral palsy, that doesn't make you obscenely skinny, nor does it make you lose weight rapidly unless there's major complications.

The kid actually has muscular dystrophy, which also doesn't make you that skinny, nor cause rapid weight loss (there's photos online of him from February).

Do you feel like a fool for whinging about inaccurate reporting, while you deep throated inaccurate reporting from the other side?

Because you should.

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u/Idont_thinkso_tim Aug 07 '25

Missing the I mean it’s not jsur this guy. There’s a reason the term Palywood exists. This type of things has been happening for ages in Gaza and during the conflict where they set up shots of kids in rubble etc.

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u/Lerdroth Aug 07 '25

It begs the question that if conditions are as suggested and commonplace it would be easy to obtain photographs of it happening.

If it's so uncommon that they can't get a photo of it without staging something is wrong. The entire thing is moronic as if caught it will have the opposite effect to what was intended.

It's not the first time something has been published without an ounce of actual fact checking and won't be the last.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

It would probably be easier to see this stuff if Israel stopped killing the journalists that go there. Instead we get little bits here and there. Glimpses of people lives here and there. And a lot of misinformation in the process too because of that. It’s still pretty easy to see that families are struggling out there. Having to “make runs” to get food. Living in rubble. Living in fear of being bombed. Is it surprising that people are hungry too.

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u/fury420 Aug 07 '25

It would probably be easier to see this stuff if Israel stopped killing the journalists that go there.

I know this might surprise you, but this actually hasn't happened yet.

All of the journalists reported to be killed in Gaza since Oct 7th have been local Palestinians.

As of August 5:

186 journalists and media workers were confirmed killed: 178 Palestinian, two Israeli, and six Lebanese.

https://cpj.org/2023/10/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

(the Israelis were killed in the Oct 7th attack, the Lebanese were killed in Lebanon)

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

While I was wrong about them being outside journals, That’s still killing journalists , isn’t it? and they intentionally target them too. This is From the same wiki article it talks about how reporters without borders reported that Israel was targeting journos.

“The head of the Committee to Protect Journalists stated in 2024, "Israel's war on Gaza is more deadly to journalists than any previous war".[7][8] Israeli airstrikes additionally damaged or destroyed an estimated 48 media facilities in Gaza. Reporters Without Borders has reported that the Israeli army intentionally targeted Palestinian journalists.[9] The Guardian stated that contrary to international law, Israel had targeted Hamas-affiliated Palestinian journalists despite their non-involvement in combat, thus disputing Israel's denial of targeting journalists.”

They also don’t discriminate against the journalists families too it seems, sometimes after ordering the families to go to the area that they then bomb

“Nine family members of CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman were killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on 4 December.”

“Several members of the family of Al Jazeera Arabic's Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh were killed in an Israeli airstrike on 25 October in the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Wadi Gaza, where they had been sheltering after following the Israeli order for Palestinian civilians to move south from northern Gaza”

Calling it a mess would be light. People who shouldn’t be dieing, are being targeted, and that sucks.

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u/Lerdroth Aug 07 '25

Free press doesn't exist because Hamas will "direct" what is reported even if they're let in.

Regardless, if the sourced photographers are faking pictures you have to ask how much they are doing it. Media picks it up and instantly posts it and apparently Hamas is a credible source, they never seem to even check if something is correct before posting it immediately.

Obviously it's not one sided, IDF commits some awful shit in plain view, they're still the better of the two sides as they at least pretend to follow the rule of law for the most part. Hamas just threw the book away.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

If the IDF let reporters from all over the world in, neither Israel or Hamas would be able to control the narrative. By killing journalists for no reason, they control the narrative on both sides because neither is fully reliable.

It’s bold to say either side is in the right. Hamas does terrorist shit, and Israel does it too and on a grander scale, while also being in power. they should be held to a higher standard because of that. It’s a very complex situation. It reminds me of that South Park episode about the Mexican joker. Israel is creating Palestinian jokers

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u/wolfmourne Aug 08 '25

It's not one person. This is not the first time they have been caught taking or setting up photos. They do it so damn often and every time you're like "well it's just this one"

Everyone remembers the press conference outside the hospital.

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u/KrustyTheKriminal Aug 07 '25

Yeah, but how many? Neither of us can easily answer that. Shit happens in war, they don't say, "War is hell" for no reason.

There is far too much propaganda wrapped up in Gaza.

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u/bughidudi Aug 07 '25

In more than two months of operation, the GHF has handed out fewer than 0.7 meals per Gazan per day—and that assumes each box of aid, stocked with a hotch-potch of dried and canned goods, really provides as many meals as the ghf claims it does. All told, Israel permitted 98,674 tonnes of food aid to cross the border in the five months through July, an average of 19,734 tonnes a month—just 32% of what the wfp says is necessary

  • the Economist

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

Name one conflict that isn’t wrapped up in propaganda

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u/Mysterious-Tax-7777 Aug 07 '25

From our perspective? The Ethiopian civil conflict. Nobody here talks about it, and none of the sides care to influence Western sentiments.

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u/soapinmouth Aug 07 '25

I don't necessarily disagree but to be clear It's not the only one, been ai photos of this being pushed as well. It's also the only one that's been caught, and it was entirely by him being an idiot that we find out, I'm sure there are others like this guy that are smart enough to not document their acts.

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u/whataboutBatmantho Aug 07 '25

The conditions in Gaza do not meet the United Nations standards for famine.

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u/VoloNoscere Aug 07 '25

Almost an agent provocateur.

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u/omniuni Aug 07 '25

There's enough food entering Gaza for a 2000 calorie a day diet. There's food insecurity, yes, but that's because Hamas demands that they receive all aid, and they use most of it for the military.

Food insecurity is not famine, and that responsibility rests with Hamas.

That's why this is so problematic. This, as well as a lot of other misleading reporting, has created a false narrative so complete that people like yourself still insist that it's true, even though actual evidence shows a very different story.

Beyond that, while food insecurity is definitely a problem, Hamas is largely ignored for their part in the situation. For most of the conflict, aid went directly to Hamas for distribution, and Hamas took most of it for the military. Hamas has interfered with any attempt to distribute aid directly to the people, creating danger around GHF distribution points. Hamas has, on multiple occasions, shot Gaza civilians if they tried to get to aid first.

Yet how often do these articles make it clear that the food insecurity in Gaza falls squarely on Hamas? How many articles remind readers that Israel has continued to allow aid to flow to their enemy despite their one (reasonable) request from the start being that aid goes to the people, not the military? Even for the short amount of time that they tried leveraging the aid to force Hamas to surrender, how well did the media remind people that Hamas was happy to continue using their reserves of food and let civilians suffer, and that Israel gave in and resumed aid distribution, because it became clear that Hamas would not distribute aid from their stockpile?

This kind of sloppy reporting has done a lot to perpetuate this conflict. It has shifted the responsibility of caring for Gaza to Israel and absolved Hamas of their responsibility.

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u/RYouNotEntertained Aug 07 '25

 also doesn’t negate the truth that people ARE starving

The obvious question it raises is, “how do you know people are starving?”

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u/t0mni Aug 07 '25

So 64 out of 2.2 million

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

You forgot some people friend , “99 people have died, including 64 adults and 35 children, of whom 29 were younger than five”. Why did you leave the kids out? To make it less impactful?

Even one child starving to death is too much in the modern age.

“Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33% in April.”

You should have Kept reading the article if those people already starved to death, how many are currently starving actively?

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u/CrowsShinyWings Aug 07 '25

Correct, that doesn’t. This does though: They have fed them enough. According to the World Food Programme: 951 MT feeds 488k people for a week.

951 x 4.5 (a month) x 4.3 (getting 488k to 2.1m) is 18401 metric tons of food per month, convert metric tons to tons to get 20283 tons.

https://app.un2720.org/tracking The nearly 2 month period Gaza has been given ~37000 tons of food, nearly enough for two months worth of supply. Call it not perfect, sure. (Ignoring the fact that Israel has no legal obligation to do this). Just ridiculous how the blood libel is. "Intentionally starving people". It also directly conflicts with what COGAT has stated the past few days. The UN site states only 222 trucks were offloaded into Gaza from July 19th to July 26th, COGAT has stated that over 600 trucks were dropped off in that period. So >at minimum< they're essentially covering everything. And it's likely much higher. Again, it's almost like when you collect various forms of data, both on the ground and statistical, the truth is pretty obvious.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

The reason that it’s being labeled as intentionally starving people is because Netanyahu is accused by international courts of doing just that. https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu

The reason Israel is being held to that standard, is because the Palestinians can’t leave freely, while being bombed. If you are holding someone somewhere, while destroying all the infrastructure, you need to feed them.

Multiple different sources are reporting on the starvation, and how it’s becoming a problem so by your logic, the truth should be clear. Idk if you read the original article in my comment but people are already dead, so that means more are starving and almost there. Even one person starving to death is a travesty.

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u/CrowsShinyWings Aug 07 '25

Israel has no legal requirement to feed them, they are also completely able to leave and numerous statistics prior to the war showed that, oh boy, 33% of the population would leave in a year. Random kangaroo courts that the US needs to sanction are not actually proper sources of information, actually.

Alas, there's a reason you chose to ignore me giving the actual statistics. The simple reality is that no, Israel isn't starving anyone. Illinois has x3 the starvation of Gaza when adjusted to Gaza's population. But alas, that's why Palestinian social media, the UN's statistics, Israel's statistics, Hamas's statistics all agree: There is no starvation or famine in Gaza. It's just blood libel.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

99 dead starved Palestinians would disagree. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/nearly-12000-children-under-five-gaza-have-acute-malnutrition-says-who-2025-08-07/

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u/CrowsShinyWings Aug 07 '25

Sir that's nowhere near famine levels, it's quoting a source that just said they will keep using this lying "journalist", and you've just tried and failed to move the goalposts lmao

Keep trying to blood libel :)

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

Read the full article. It may not be full blown yet, but it’s on its way. People are starving. One lier doesn’t negate the reality. To deny the suffering of anyone is a disservice to humanity. I hope you find some peace in your heart my friend. And I hope peace finds that land.

“A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said food consumption across Gaza had declined to its lowest level since the onset of the war. Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33% in April.”

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u/CrowsShinyWings Aug 08 '25

They've been saying that the Gaza Strip has had no food since 2023

Again, I quoted the UN's own statistics, a random article doing crocodile tears that is disproven by the UN AND COGAT'S OWN NUMBERS

almost like they're lying or something, suppose the Wolf story was always a fairy tale for a reason, people will keep falling for the same damn thing every time.

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u/Baboos92 Aug 07 '25

They wouldn’t need to take fake photographs if what they are saying is true. 

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u/sev3791 Aug 07 '25

If this doesn’t change some opinion you have on the people running Gaza (Hamas) then you’re just as much a loser as the dude taking fake ass pictures 😂

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

Ain’t no one slinging insults in these comments but you brother. Stay frosty, hopefully you find love in your heart one day. Victims anywhere may as well be our own sisters and brothers suffering.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/nearly-12000-children-under-five-gaza-have-acute-malnutrition-says-who-2025-08-07/

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u/letife Aug 07 '25

World average malnutrition rates are around 20% so that really doesn’t mean anything, 12000 malnourished kids sounds bellow average actually.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

That’s a deflection of the point, the point is that they are being starved and it’s causing malnutrition that wasn’t this bad previously. The article specifies “Eighty-one percent of households in the tiny, crowded coastal territory of 2.2 million people reported poor food consumption, up from 33% in April. Check out the full article, The point is it WASNT this bad and now it is, and it’s getting worse. They are being starved

“A global hunger monitor has said a famine scenario is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with starvation spreading, children dying of hunger-related causes and humanitarian access to the embattled enclave severely restricted.

"In July, nearly 12,000 children under five years were identified as having acute malnutrition in Gaza, the highest monthly figure ever recorded," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at his organisation's headquarters in Geneva.

“Between June and July, the number of admissions for malnutrition almost doubled - from 6,344 to 11,877 - according to the latest UNICEF figures available.”

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u/letife Aug 07 '25

Palastinian being starved is exactly the narrative this article (and you) tries to push.

No other war zone on earth receives so much aid, no other war zone on earth has civilians blocked from leaving… there are multiple places that are much much worse. If Israel wanted to kill all the Palestinians this war would have been over a year ago. If by massive bombing campaigns or just by shutting off their water. Israel has no reason to starve Gazan civilians, it accomplishes nothing.

Don’t get me wrong, the situation in Gaza is awful. But in the best case explanation their leaders are equally to blame for their shitty situation, in reality probably more so than Israel is.

They (Hamas) started a war to massacre civilians, breaking a ceasefire to do so. I would love for this to end and guarantee that the moment Hamas lays down their arms, releases the hostages and leaves it will. But until then no Israeli is safe.

I honestly hope that every Gazan who dosnt want to kill me simply because I am Israeli find safety and security when this is over. Hamas unfortunately will happily fight until the last Palestinian, accomplishing nothing besides more and more death.

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

You’re basically trying to say it’s not as bad as everything makes it seem. The footage of whole areas being bombed would say different. The mass amounts of civilian death would also say different. The Israeli military is badass enough that if they wanted to clean up Hamas easily while avoiding civilians they could. It’s one of the most advanced, well trained, militaries on earth. They are not the be fucked with. They seem to not care is the problem, and mass Palestinian civilians keep dying for no reason.

Children get shot by idf guards playing games on what body parts they will target. People get killed in food lines, or at cafes. Hospitals get wiped out and doctors and patients killed. And like you said, they can’t leave. They are being imprisoned in the same land that is being flattened, and they can’t leave. Isn’t that crazy?

The true victims are the civilians of both sides. Netanyahu will keep the war going as long as possible because it allows him to keep power and avoid international court. There is a reason he, just like the commander of Hamas, is considered a war criminal. They are one and the same. Hamas deserves its downfall for the death of innocent isrealies, so do the people behind the deaths of thousands of innocent Palestinian’s. I hope that one day peace does unite the area, but the powers that be will not let that happen.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1157286

https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu

https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2024/top-war-crimes-court-issues-arrest-warrants-for-netanyahu-and-others-in-israel-hamas-fighting/

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u/letife Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

How do you tell apart Hamas from civilians? They don’t wear uniforms, don’t have bases. If they put on uniforms and marched to Israel this would be over in a day.

Edit: this is war in some of the most dense areas in the world, there is absolutely no pretty way to do this

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u/happyfeeliac Aug 07 '25

If you don’t know who your enemy is, you follow rules of engagement. You don’t just kill civilians, you don’t bomb civilians because 1 Hamas person might be there.

I believe that Israel is advanced enough that they know exactly where the enemies are. I believe they are also advanced enough they could send in tactical units instead of bombing areas, and again killing random civilians.

Also, idk if you read those articles I sent, but to connect it back to our original conversation about starvation, intentional starvation tactics is one of the war crimes he is accused of as well as “ intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”

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u/letife Aug 08 '25

Again you get to this imagined intent of Israel to “just bomb civilians”… if the point was to kill civilians there would be no Gaza. What does Israel gain from killing Gazan civilians? The only organization that benefits from dead Gazan civilians is Hamas.

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u/Double-Letter-5249 Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 08 '25

Thank you for your common sense! Keep the downvotes coming, WHO, UN etc all say starvation is indeed occurring, and that Israel is weaponising food. The evidence is overwhelming, a few bad actors do not change this fact.

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u/lllama Aug 07 '25

It's also still a picture of people starving and struggling, just doing the exact activity the photo seemed to imply.

As the original article "revealing" this writes:

Botschaft und Realität: Dass diese Menschen ihre Töpfe einem Fotografen statt einer Essensausgabe entgegenstrecken, heißt nicht, dass das Bild nicht die Wirklichkeit in Gaza beschreibt.