GAZA CITY, Palestine

The Government Media Office in Gaza on Wednesday refuted Israeli claims accusing Hamas of hoarding flour in warehouses across the Gaza Strip, describing the allegation as part of a “systematic disinformation campaign” by Tel Aviv aimed at “evading its international responsibility for using hunger as a weapon of war” against Palestinians.

Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee published a video earlier in the day on Telegram showing Palestinians breaking into a food warehouse in central Gaza, claiming it belonged to the Palestinian group.

In response, the Gaza Media Office said “the Israeli occupation is spreading lies to cover up its engineered starvation policy targeting civilians, while it is the one that prevented international organizations from distributing aid to Palestinian families.”

It said the video shows starving civilians breaking into a warehouse belonging to the UN World Food Program (WFP) in the central governorate -- an incident the office described as tragic and a direct result of the catastrophic humanitarian situation caused by Israel’s intensified blockade and systematic starvation policy.

The office said the Israeli military rushed to issue a false narrative, claiming that “the Gaza government is hoarding tons of flour in its warehouses and starving the population,” calling the claim “a blatant lie and fabrication that falls under a systematic disinformation campaign aimed at evading international accountability for using hunger as a weapon—a crime that amounts to genocide under international law.”

It stressed that the breached warehouse belongs to the WFP and has no connection to the Gaza government or any local entity.

The office cited international organizations stating that the Israeli military had barred the WFP from distributing flour and food aid to needy families, ordering instead that aid be redirected exclusively to bakeries—a policy now referred to as “engineered starvation.”

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a devastating offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing over 54,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.​​​​​​​

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.