Israeli envoy claims images of starving children are ‘false’
Israel’s No. 2 diplomat in Australia says there is no starvation in Gaza and images of emaciated children in the Palestinian enclave are part of a ‘false campaign’ by Hamas.
Israel’s No. 2 diplomat in Australia says there is no starvation in Gaza and that images of emaciated children in the Palestinian enclave are part of a “false campaign” by Hamas.
Rejecting mounting reports that famine is sweeping the territory, Israel’s deputy ambassador, Amir Meron, said Hamas was “deceiving the media, deceiving international organisations, the international community, and it is deceiving its own people”.
“The picture that you see, we think these are false pictures,” he said.
“There is no starvation in the Gaza Strip. This is a false campaign as we see it. A false campaign from the Hamas side to have those photos being published … to bring a false negative story to the world.”
Images from Gaza in recent days have sparked international condemnation, including from Anthony Albanese, who accused Israel of killing civilians by illegally withholding humanitarian aid.
Mr Meron denied Israel was failing to meet its international obligations, accusing international aid organisations of refusing to deliver aid and of stealing supplies.
“The aid is ready. It’s ready to be given to the population. They just need to come and get it,” he said.
His comments followed those of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared earlier: “There is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation Gaza.”
The Prime Minister was unmoved by the claims, savaging the Jewish state in parliament for the “humanitarian catastrophe” unfolding in Gaza. “Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children seeking access to water and food, cannot be defended nor can it be ignored,” Mr Albanese said.
He said he shared the distress of those across the world at the image of a starving one-year-old Palestinian boy, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, published globally in recent days. “He is not a threat to the state of Israel, nor is he someone who can be seen to be a fighter for Hamas,” he said.
“He’s a young child who deserves to be treated appropriately. And the position of the Australian government is very clear, that every innocent life matters. Every Israeli and every Palestinian.
“This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives, tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.”
Amid the claims from Israel that photos from Gaza have been doctored, CNN has reported that the boy’s mother has said he had a pre-existing muscular disorder. There has since been claims from pro-Israeli journalist David Collier that he has cerebral palsy and other diseases that affect his appearance.
Mr Albanese demanded Israel comply with its obligations under international law but reiterated he would not rush to recognise a Palestinian state, as France had declared it would do in September.
“It must be more than a gesture,” he said. “It must be something that’s a part of moving forward. Australia will make that decision as a sovereign state.
“We obviously are in discussions with other countries as well, going forward.”
His comments came as Victorian ALP members prepared motions demanding the immediate recognition of a Palestinian state and sanctions on Israel, to be moved at the party’s state conference this weekend.
Labor is considering recognition of Palestine, after Foreign Minister Penny Wong flagged last year that Australia could do so ahead of a formal peace process.
Former NSW premier and Labor foreign minister Bob Carr on Monday said the government should show a “flash of independence, strength and maturity” by joining with Paris to recognise a Palestinian state. He issued the call as he compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis.
“The use of famine as a weapon of state policies is precisely and absolutely what Israel has been doing,” Mr Carr said. “There can be no argument about that. They control the food that goes in, its nature and its quantity.
“It would be hard to distinguish between the pinched despairing faces of childhood victims in the Warsaw ghetto and those we are seeing out of Gaza.”
Labor Friends of Israel co-convener Nick Dyrenfurth said he was “gravely concerned with the Netanyahu government’s actions in Gaza” but condemned Mr Carr’s provocative comments. “Mr Carr is wilfully lying and deliberately stoking community tensions with extremist language and deliberately provoking his former friends in Australia’s Jewish community with Nazi slurs,” he said.
“War is an awful thing, but there is no genocide taking place.”
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