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by DiogenesKynikos 255 days ago
> Starvation as a tactic of war is horrible and evil. But it doesn't sound like people here do know what is happening.

The problem for your argument is that Israeli leaders have publicly said over and over again that they are intentionally starving the Palestinians in Gaza.

> 1400 was a specific time/event and the worst case CNN listed.

Israel let in 0 calories for months on end. They have blocked the UN from providing food aid, and have attempted to completely destroy the main UN agency providing food in Gaza. When Israel does let food in, it is only in response to international pressure. If the Israeli government thought it could get away with killing every last Palestinian in Gaza, it would.

1 comments

> Israeli leaders have publicly said over and over again that they are intentionally starving the Palestinians in Gaza

To be fair, Israeli leaders can be quoted saying just about anything, same as in pretty much any democracy. What matters is which leaders are saying what, what authority they have, and what's happening on the ground.

The Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister are not just random, low-level people with no authority who are shooting the breeze.

Nobody who has followed the news over the last two years can seriously claim that this isn't Israeli policy. Did Israel block all aid shipments for months earlier this year by accident?

Sorry, didn't realise it was attributed to their comments.

> Nobody who has followed the news over the last two years can seriously claim that this isn't Israeli policy

Eh, it's fair to say there isn't an Israeli policy. Same as there isn't a Palestinian one. We have a black box in Hamas and around Netanyahu.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: "We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel, everything will be closed. We are fighting against human animals, and we are acting accordingly."[0]

CNN: "Israel says it will block Gaza humanitarian aid until Hamas agrees to new conditions"[1]. This official announcement came directly from Netanyahu's office. After this announcement, Israel blocked all humanitarian aid to Gaza for nearly 3 months. What's particularly remarkable is that this came after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and hostage exchange. Netanyahu exchanged the first few batches of hostages, and then refused to continue as previously agreed. He demanded that the entire deal - which both sides had already agreed to - be renegotiated, and blocked humanitarian aid as a means of applying pressure.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalael Smotrich: "No one in the world will allow us to starve 2 million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages."[2]

I could go on, but you get the point. You can't possibly claim that this isn't Israeli government policy or that we have no way of knowing what the top Israeli leaders think about the matter.

0. https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2023/10/9/israeli-d...

1. https://edition.cnn.com/2025/03/02/middleeast/israel-halts-g...

2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/08/israel...