Israel disagrees with World Food Program comment describing 'famine' in Gaza

An Israeli official rejected on Sunday accusations by a U.N. top official that hard-hit northern Gaza was now in “full-blown famine” after more than six months of war and severe Israeli restrictions on food deliveries.

“We believe that a sufficient amount of humanitarian aid is making its way into Gaza as whole, and into northern Gaza specifically,” said Shimon Freedman, a spokesperson for Israel’s military office that oversees Palestinian civilian affairs.

The World Food Program director became the most prominent international official so far to declare that civilians in the most cut-off part of Gaza were now facing famine.

Israeli forces strike targets in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah

Under pressure from the U.S. and others, Israeli officials in recent weeks have begun slowly reopening some border crossings for relief shipments.

“You can see behind me is humanitarian aid that has come from the Ashdod port, and it’s making its way now into the crossing,” Freedman told reporters at Erez Crossing as aid trucks moved into Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war broke on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel killing 1,200 people and taking 250 as hostages.

Israel has since launched an aerial and ground attack on the Gaza Strip killing over 34,500 people and causing wide destruction.