JNS
In 2022, a daily average of 292 trucks entered the Gaza Strip, only 73 of them bearing food, with no evidence of famine, study finds.
The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies on Wednesday released an in-depth study on allegations that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip during the war sparked by Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, invasion.
Authored by Professor Danny Orbach, Jonathan Boxman, Yagil Henkin and attorney Jonathan Braverman, the report analyzes claims of deliberate starvation, mass civilian killings and indiscriminate bombings by the Israel Defense Forces during the initial 20 months of war.
The document's eight chapters cover claims of starvation, alleged civilian targeting, casualty data manipulation, proportionality in IDF strikes and the credibility of U.N. agencies and human rights NGOs.
Accusations that Jerusalem intentionally starved the Strip's civilian population or deliberately targeted noncombatants are entirely based on manipulated data and flawed methodologies, the study found.
73 food trucks enough
The widely circulated claim that the Gaza Strip needs 500 aid trucks each day is shown to be false. The study's authors cite pre-war data from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicating that in 2022, the average entry was 292 trucks per day, only 73 of them food trucks, with no evidence of famine in the coastal enclave.
The authors also argue that many of the narratives promoted by NGOs and international media outlets fail to account for Hamas's military strategy, primarily its use of civilians and infrastructure as shields.
The report includes a captured Hamas "combat manual" explaining the tactical benefits of embedding terrorists among civilians and outlines how the group has developed a human-shield strategy since 2006.
"War is shaped by reciprocal measures taken by all parties involved," according to the report. "The actions of one side cannot be assessed without considering those of its adversary."
The 300-page study examines casualty figures published by the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, showing that they were skewed to misrepresent the ratio of civilian-to-combatant deaths attributed to Israeli military operations.
Among other findings, the study traces how the Gaza Health Ministry's tallies, after early claims that around 70% of the dead were women and children, has increasingly relied on "media reports" to inflate the share of noncombatants to the point that additions of women and children sometimes exceeded the total deaths reported that day.
The report also questions the reliability of humanitarian assessments in territories governed by authoritarian regimes such as Hamas, comparing Gaza under Hamas to Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
In the 1990s, U.N.-linked surveys based on Iraqi Health Ministry data claimed more than 500,000 excess child deaths under sanctions on the country. The figures fueled global pressure, but were discredited after Saddam's fall, with no evidence of a major rise in child mortality.
A key researcher eventually retracted the findings, which the report said reflected a "humanitarian bias" that can also be seen in the war on Hamas.
While the probe acknowledges that the war has caused suffering in the enclave, it stresses that advocacy-driven analyses undermine factual accuracy.
The "factual analysis in no way diminishes or ignores the suffering in Gaza, but subordinating factual analysis to advocacy undermines the ability to shape informed policy and ethical conduct," state the authors.
The IDF has begun implementing the Aug. 8 Cabinet decision to occupy Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Aug. 31.
The Defense Ministry's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories unit said Wednesday that "steps have been taken to adjust the humanitarian response, as part of the preparations to receive the population in the southern part of the Gaza Strip for their protection."
"Accordingly, the entry of food, medical equipment and shelter supplies has been increased. In addition, steps have been taken regarding water supply and medical response in the southern Gaza Strip," it continued.
Netanyahu on Aug. 14 outlined his parameters for ending the Gaza war.
The conditions for victory were listed as the disarmament of Hamas; the return of all 48 remaining hostages; the demilitarization of Gaza; Israeli security control; and establishing an alternative civilian administration.
