One of Israel’s top local diplomats says claims of starvation in Gaza are being fabricated by Hamas for propaganda, as he rejected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s accusation the Netanyahu government has broken international law over its deadly approach to distributing aid.

Deputy ambassador to Australia Amir Meron said that “there is enough aid in Gaza” and suggested Israel had increased supplies of food and medicines into the enclave because of global anger over the humanitarian crisis that reached a crescendo last week. But he claimed Israel had been committed to increasing aid regardless of the international backlash.