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They Are Starving—And We’re Still Debating Blame

They Are Starving—And We’re Still Debating Blame

Last updated on: August 5, 2025 at 12:35 am by Rob Dalrymple

They Are Starving—And We’re Still Debating Blame 2025-08-04T21:03:32-08:00 Rob Dalrymple

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couple in rubble in Gaza

Gaza is destroyed. Now the people are starving. What will you do? Image by Save_Palestine from Pixabay

“The problem is not the warnings. The problem lies with those who don’t want to hear them” (Alex de Waal, the world’s foremost expert on famine).

The people of Gaza are starving. Well, it’s not Israel’s fault. Hamas is stealing the food.

The people of Gaza are starving. Well, it’s not Israel’s fault. There are thousands of trucks waiting.

The people of Gaza are starving.

Are we supposed to be okay with this? Are we supposed to be at peace because “At least the people I support are not to blame.”

And what if they are to blame? Will it matter then? People are dying! Once level 5, “famine”, is reached, and many experts believe it already has, irreparable harm will be done to many people. That is, even if they get food and survive, they will have lifelong consequences to deal with.

The problem is that no one wants to take the blame for the starvation or famine in Gaza. That leaves them with two options: either deny it or blame someone else.

Before I respond to these two points, let me note that you can’t have both. You can have neither. But you can’t have both. After all, the “deny it” approach leaves nothing to blame on others. If there is no starvation or famine in Gaza, then there is no one to blame.

The “blame others” approach acknowledges that the starvation in Gaza is real, but they just don’t believe they are responsible.

All that matters right now is that people in Gaza are starving. Let’s attend to that!

Let’s attend to the facts. The people of Gaza are starving. It doesn’t matter at this moment whose fault it is. The number of starving people may be thousands, and possibly many more.

Let’s agree that starving people and dying children (children can’t survive without food as long as adults) are unacceptable. Let’s agree to pressure everyone to provide these individuals with the food and medical care they need.

This begins with pressuring the US. We are the most powerful nation that the world has ever seen. We can’t continue to act as though our hands are tied.

I spoke strongly against Biden and Harris when they claimed, “We need a ceasefire.” What do you mean, we need a ceasefire? All you have to do is stop sending Israel weapons, and the ceasefire will happen because they will have nothing left to fire! You can’t say, “We need a ceasefire” when you have the power to make it happen.

Now, it is time to speak against Trump and his administration. We must plead with our elected officials and demand that enough food and aid be let into Gaza and that it be made accessible to the people.

But, “They are not starving”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “There is no starvation in Gaza.” This was reiterated by Ben Gvir, who also called for the bombing of distribution sites.

There you have it. The whole idea that the people of Gaza are starving is nothing more than leftist, anti-Israel, and antisemitic rancor.

The problem here is that every humanitarian organization and all the world’s experts on starvation and famine are adamant that Gaza has either already or is very close to entering stage 5 “famine,” which is the final phase.

The rhetoric has been fast and furious because no one wants to take the blame for starving people. Such rhetoric, however, is merely a ploy to deflect responsibility.

Hamas is stealing the food

A picture has been circulating that allegedly shows that Palestinians (Hamas) are stealing the food. There you have it. Proof. It is not Israel’s fault, it is Hamas’s.

Alex de Waal, the world’s leading expert on famine (what a job! I suppose it is a calling!), has reported that the picture circulating on social media is not telling the same story it is purported to be telling.

De Waal notes, “I have to tell you that Israel always complains about Hamas stealing food. As of this time last year, they had not shared any reliable information about that with the United States. The US was not able to produce anything when questioned about supporting Israeli allegations.”

But what about the pictures? We have seen them stealing the food.

De Waal continues, “These videos were being circulated by Israel. Here’s Hamas stealing food. What was actually happening in at least one of these videos was that the community were putting armed men on those trucks to stop the aid being stolen.”

Senior US officials have also denied the allegations that Hamas is stealing the food: Senator Chris Van Hollen stated emphatically, “And this is a big lie, the claim that when the UN organizations were delivering food to Palestinian civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas. I want to say loudly and clearly, this is a big lie.”

Why does Israel allow only FOUR food distribution sites to service 2.2 million people?

In addition, if Israel is so concerned about making sure the people of Gaza have food, then why have they, in the name of security, made obtaining food for the people of Gaza nearly impossible?

According to De Waal, the United Nations had a plan in place to ensure that aid was allocated correctly to the people of Gaza: The UN “had secured 400 distribution sites all across Gaza.” De Waal notes, however, that the UN was “restricted in what they could do.” De Waal insists that “they were seeking to do it [get the food to the people of Gaza] in a way that met the Israeli demand that nothing should go to Hamas.”

De Waal explains that instead of allowing these 400 distribution sites, which were needed to service 2.2 million people, Israel has only permitted “four locations, three of them in the south, one in the center.”

Even worse is the fact that these distribution sites are “only open for perhaps 30 minutes, perhaps an hour, an hour and a half every day, with very, very short warning time, and they are located in No Go Zones, free fire zones.”

In other words, these four zones are not located near where most people live. And the fact that these sites are near the IDF’s firing zones makes it almost impossible for the people of Gaza to get food.

De Waal concludes, “This is not a humanitarian system. This is a system for deliberately controlling and humiliating and degrading the people of Gaza. That is the only conclusion that one can draw, absolutely.”

The problems are:

Not enough aid is making its way into Gaza
The food and aid are not being distributed consistently
Most Gazans cannot get to the distribution sites

If Israel is not to blame for points 1 and 2, then why are they making it nearly impossible for the people of Gaza to get to the food (point 3)?

Here are some ways you can give to support food for Gaza

https://www.peacecatalyst.org/mercy-aiken

https://www.impactnations.com/relief-gaza

https://shepherd-society.org

Have any questions for us? Reach out to us at [email protected]

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About Rob Dalrymple

Rob Dalrymple is married to his wife Toni and is the father of four fabulous children, and three grandchildren. He has been teaching and pastoring for over 35 years at colleges, seminaries, and the local church. He has a PhD in biblical interpretation. He is the author of six books (including Follow the Lamb: A Guide to Reading, Understanding, and Applying the Book of Revelation & Understanding the New Testament and the End Times: Why it Matters) as well as numerous articles and other publications. His commentary on the book of Revelation titled, “Revelation: a Love Story” (Cascade Books, July 2024) is making waves in the scholarly world. His latest book, Land of Contention: Biblical Narratives and the Struggle for the Holy Land discussed the role of the church in peacemaking in the light of the war on Gaza and the struggles in the West Bank and is available now on Amazon or wherever you get your books (hopefully somewhere besides Amazon!) You can read more about the author here.

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