Israel’s defense establishment revealed on Tuesday that the Hamas terrorist organization is running a deliberate disinformation campaign to depict a false picture of widespread hunger in Gaza, aiming to damage Israel’s international standing and gain political leverage.

The investigation revealed a significant gap between the number of malnutrition-related deaths reported by Hamas’s Ministry of Health and the number of confirmed cases with verifiable information. The assessment showed that since the beginning of July, while the hostage deal/ceasefire negotiations were taking place, Hamas reported a soaring number of alleged deaths from malnutrition in Gaza. Until June 2025, Hamas reported 66 such deaths since the war began. In July alone, however, over 133 cases were announced—most without identifying details, in contrast to earlier reporting practices.

For example, Hamas claimed 18 malnutrition-related deaths on July 19 and another 15 on July 22. Yet independent analysis of communications and social media found only a handful of cases that could be confirmed. Many named individuals were found to have had serious preexisting health conditions unrelated to malnutrition, and some had even received medical treatment in Israeli hospitals before the war.

For example, in recent weeks, photos of a four-year-old child, Abdullah Hani Muhammad Abu Zarqa, were circulated, with claims that his condition is due to starvation in Gaza. The investigation by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) revealed that he suffers from a genetic disease causing vitamin and mineral deficiencies, osteoporosis, and bone thinning—a hereditary illness that also affected other family members.

It was also found that four months before the outbreak of the war, the child traveled with his mother, with Israel’s approval, to receive medical treatment at the Al-Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem.

Another example was 27-year-old Karem Khaled Mustafa al-Jamal, whose death Hamas attributed to malnutrition but who had long suffered from muscular dystrophy and partial paralysis, impairing his ability to swallow

“The investigation carried out by security officials in cooperation with professional medical personnel found no signs of a broad malnutrition crisis in Gaza,” the statement said.

“Hamas is cynically exploiting tragic imagery as part of a false and timed disinformation campaign intended to create international pressure and negative public opinion against Israel.”

“We will continue working to improve the humanitarian response in Gaza, in cooperation with the international community, while rejecting allegations of famine in the Gaza Strip.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)