Social media users have slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he insisted that international accusations that Israel is using food as a weapon of war in Gaza are “a lie”, and suggested that Palestinians in the besieged enclave were overweight.
Speaking at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu said Palestinians in Gaza were not experiencing mass starvation “at all”.
“We take thousands of prisoners, sort them out into civilians and combatants, and we photograph them… The first thing you do is you tell them, ‘Take your shirt off. We want to see that there is no suicide vest.’.. and you don’t see one, not one emaciated from the beginning of the war to the present,” he said.
In fact, you see quite the opposite because you don’t get that much exercise, certainly not in tunnels, but you get food.
Clips from the premier’s speech spread rapidly online.
“Netanyahu’s claims are a shocking denial of reality,” one person said.
While Palestinians in Gaza are dying from hunger due to Israel’s blockade, he absurdly talks about detainees being overweight.
“Thousands and thousands of prisoners have taken their shirts off, and you don't see one—not one—emaciated.”
Speaking at a conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there is no “mass starvation” in Gaza pic.twitter.com/YJwRF40oqy
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) May 28, 2025
The United Nations and international organisations have repeatedly warned of extreme hunger and the risk of imminent famine in Gaza due to Israel’s blocking of aid and humanitarian assistance since the start of the war in October 2023.
Since 2 March, Israel has enforced a total blockade of aid, medical, food and fuel supplies, which led to the entirety of Gaza’s population being at “critical risk” of famine, according to UN experts. Dozens of children have died due to starvation.
The UN and major international humanitarian organisations have also criticised a controversial new U.S.-Israeli aid distribution system as inadequate and a violation of humanitarian principles.
“Netanyahu speaks with the callousness of someone who sees suffering as a spectacle,” posted another social media user.
To deny starvation while orchestrating a siege is not just inhuman, it’s diabolical.
Another said:
The only thing that’s new here is the admission. This has been the Israeli MO forever.
Others highlighted what they termed Netanyahu’s “boasting” of imprisoning thousands of Palestinian civilians and photographing them after making them remove their clothing.
Netanyahu admitting here that Israel takes thousands and thousands of civilians as prisoners. https://t.co/Rd9rvEkymy
— Fahad Ansari 🇵🇸 (Stop the Gaza genocide) (@fahadansari) May 28, 2025
“What kind of leadership boasts about photographing detainees naked to ‘prove’ they’re well-fed?” asked one person.
Another said:
He’s basically saying that he’s taken CIVILIANS as hostages, stripped them of their dignity, studied them in prison labs and made conclusions about them.
‘Israel is desperate’
In his speech, Netanyahu also took aim at the international pro-Palestinian protest movement, which he labelled “antisemitic” and a threat to civilisation.
He called on Israel’s allies—including Canada, France, the U.S. and UK – to stand against what he termed “antisemitic virulence”.
“The people who are leading this charge are basically challenging western civilization or free societies as we understand them,” he said.
Israel is fighting [a war of] civilization against barbarism.
Several social media users interpreted his words as an attack on free speech and a threat against pro-Palestinian advocates in western countries.
One social media user said Netanyahu “put a target on the back of every EU and westerner who opposes the genocide in Gaza”, while another said:
Israel officially declared war on us.
Netanyahu’s comments that frame Israel’s war on Gaza as a fight for “western civilization” also come after the recent unprecedented threat of sanctions from the UK, France and Canada, which marked a dramatic shift in policy for all three countries that have been key backers of Israel.
Israel’s desperate. They have a collapsing economy, a war of attrition with war crimes and genocidal intent being spewed and recorded every day. International pressure is mounting to end the genocide and he still needs to save his skin from going to prison https://t.co/EoMm1HqmUW
— 𝙻𝚘𝚛𝚜 (@Lors1Lo) May 28, 2025
Therefore, some interpreted the leader’s speech as a sign that international pressure campaigns against Israel have shown some success.
“Israel is desperate,” said one social media user.
Another added:
guilt-tripping manipulative speech—allies aren’t buying it anymore. Enjoy diplomatic isolation.