Gaza: Some Israeli military officials have privately admitted that Gaza is facing widespread starvation.

Israel’s government has publicly dismissed warnings of extreme food shortages after it blocked aid deliveries, but an internal analysis concluded that a crisis looms if food supplies are not restored.

Palestinians waiting to receive a cooked meal in Jabaliya camp, northern Gaza Strip, in April. Food supplies have dried up since Israel blocked aid deliveries in March.Credit...Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

By Natan Odenheimer and Ronen Bergman

Some Israeli military officials have privately concluded that Palestinians in Gaza face widespread starvation unless aid deliveries are restored within weeks, according to three Israeli defense officials familiar with conditions in the enclave.

For months, Israel has maintained that its blockade on food and fuel to Gaza did not pose a major threat to civilian life in the territory, even as the United Nations and other aid agencies have said a famine was looming.

But Israeli military officers who monitor humanitarian conditions in Gaza have warned their commanders in recent days that unless the blockade is lifted quickly, many areas of the enclave will likely run out of enough food to meet minimum daily nutritional needs, according to the defense officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.

Because it takes time to scale up humanitarian deliveries, the officers said that immediate steps were needed to ensure that the system to supply aid could be reinstated fast enough to prevent starvation.

The growing acknowledgment within part of the Israeli security establishment of a hunger crisis in Gaza comes as Israel has vowed to dramatically expand the war in Gaza to destroy Hamas and bring back the remaining hostages — twin aims that more than 19 months of war have yet to achieve. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was defiant, and said the military would resume fighting in the coming days “in full force to finish the job” and “eliminate Hamas.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s statement came on the same day that President Trump landed in Saudi Arabia, as part of his first major foreign trip since his re-election. Mr. Trump, however, is not visiting Israel, underscoring a growing divide between two leaders who increasingly disagree on some of the most critical security issues facing Israel.

The military officials’ analysis has exposed a gulf between Israel’s public stance on the aid blockade and its private deliberations. It reveals that parts of the Israeli security establishment have reached the same conclusions as leading aid groups. They have warned for months of the dangers posed by the blockade.

The analysis also highlights the urgency of the humanitarian situation in Gaza: Most bakeries have shut, charity kitchens are closing and the United Nations’ World Food Program, which distributes aid and coordinates shipments, says it has run out of food stocks.On Monday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a U.N.-backed initiative that monitors malnutrition, warned that famine was imminent in Gaza. If Israel proceeds with a planned military escalation in Gaza, the initiative said in a summary report, “The vast majority of people in the Gaza Strip would not have access to food, water, shelter, and medicine.”

The Israeli military and the Israeli ministry of defense declined to comment on the Israeli officers’ predictions that Gaza is nearing a food crisis. Oren Marmorstein, a spokesman for Israel’s foreign ministry, said he was unable to share details from internal discussions but that the ministry was in contact with “all the relevant agencies on an ongoing daily basis” and closely monitors the situation in Gaza.

Israeli restrictions on aid to Gaza have been one of the most contentious issues of the war. Israel cut off supplies to Gaza in March, shortly before breaking a cease-fire with Hamas, which remains entrenched in Gaza despite losing thousands of fighters and control over much of the territory during the war.

Israel said the aim of the blockade was to reduce the Palestinian armed group’s ability to access and profit from food and fuel meant for civilians. In the process, a senior Israeli defense official said, Hamas would be more likely to collapse or at least release more of the hostages that the group captured during its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that ignited the war.

Editors’ Picks
On Florida’s Gulf Coast, They Sought Their Starter Home for $500,000
Can I Wear a Sheath Dress Without Looking Like a MAGA Woman?
Jalapeño Wine Delights TikTok but Confuses Bartenders

Image