Israeli media ‘completely ignored’ Gaza starvation – is that finally changing?

In a poll conducted in late July by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), more than three-quarters of Jewish Israelis – 79% – said they were either “not very troubled” or “not troubled at all” by reports of famine and suffering among Gaza’s Palestinian population.

Media analysts say Israel’s main broadcasters have largely embraced the narrative of a government described as the most far-right in the country’s history.

For months, the Israeli media have responded to international outrage by focusing on Israeli claims that the widespread hunger documented by numerous aid agencies is “a Hamas-orchestrated starvation campaign” – summed up by Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim last month: “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.”

Although Israel appears to exist within its own bubble, shielded by a narrative that leaves no room for the suffering of people in Gaza, thousands of demonstrators who recently filled the streets of Tel Aviv are now urging the government to halt the atrocities against the Palestinians.