In the shadow of increasing international pressure on Israel regarding humanitarian aid and claims of famine, crowding and deaths in lines at food distribution centers in the Gaza Strip, the IDF claims that there is no famine in Gaza. According to IDF sources, a large part of the photos and videos distributed by Hamas are fake:"Aid has actually increased in recent weeks"

Yoav Zeiton|

The IDF insists this evening (Tuesday) that according to all the signs, monitoring and daily checks conducted by the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories unit in the Gaza Strip, there is no famine in the Gaza Strip, contrary to the flood of criticism against Israel in the past week that has swept through governments in Europe and yesterday also reached the White House in Washington for the first time.

Almost every day, one or more Palestinian documents are circulated showing crowds being squeezed on the way to food distribution centers and IDF firing, sometimes deadly, at them, but the army claims that these distribution centers are succeeding in their main goal: keeping the critical mass of aid food that Israel is bringing into Gaza out of the hands of Hamas and in a way that it cannot rely on and strengthen itself from them.

At the same time, about half of the food enters the northern Gaza Strip in aid trucks, where there are still signs of looting, in contrast to the four food distribution centers in the center and south of the Gaza Strip. The army explains:"We know the caloric value of each truck that comes in and how many people it is enough for. We talk to distribution workers in the field, with aid organizations in the field, and we discover that Hamas is using pictures of skinny children from Yemen and AI fakes."

The IDF also says that "there are diseases in the Gaza Strip, including among children, but not related to malnutrition. There may be problems with access to food and we need to expand aid operations to solve them."

These IDF claims come just a day after more than 20 countries issued a joint statement calling for an end to the war and allowing aid to flow to the Gaza Strip."The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli aid model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity."

The humanitarian aid arriving in the Gaza Strip (Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office)

In addition, criticism of Israel in the international media has increased in recent days. Among other things, in recent days reports have appeared in the world's leading media outlets about dozens of Gazans who were"shot to death by IDF forces while trying to receive humanitarian aid." The Reuters news agency, Gridiron, CNN, BBC, Washington Post, and the New York Times - all quickly published a report by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, according to which dozens of Palestinians"were killed by IDF fire while waiting for humanitarian aid trucks near distribution centers - most of them in Gaza City as they tried to access aid that entered through the Zikim crossing."

The IDF spokesman delayed making an official comment on the reports, which have so far received international attention, but finally did comment on them on Tuesday, stating that"remote firing was carried out in order to remove an immediate threat posed to IDF forces, but from an initial examination, the number of casualties reported does not match the existing information." However, it seems that Israeli propaganda activities beyond the IDF spokesman's announcements are not being carried out - and even yesterday morning, websites around the world remained with these reports in the main headlines. It is doubtful whether the IDF's claims that"there is no hunger" in Gaza will be able to change the picture.

According to data from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, an average of 71 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip each day, and nearly 4,500 aid trucks carrying fuel, food, baby food, and medical supplies were brought into Gaza in recent weeks. 2,500 tons of baby food were brought into Gaza by Israel, and food distribution centers provided about 1.5 million food packages.

"We are not limiting the number of aid trucks entering the Strip and we have increased the routes and ways for aid to enter," the army says."The international organizations have greatly reduced the entry of aid trucks into Gaza, and as evidence of this, there are about 950 trucks waiting to enter at the crossings, mainly at Kerem Shalom. These delays, including on the part of the UN, contribute to the food security problem in Gaza. Hamas is the one causing the chaos around the aid distribution centers, firing into the air, attacking drivers of aid distribution trucks, and more."

At the same time, the IDF admits that it is still impossible to monitor and verify who the Gazans are who come to collect the food from the four distribution centers, so in practice they could also be Hamas terrorists who are operating against IDF fighters, and who come unarmed to enjoy the food that Israel is bringing in.