(added line breaks for easier reading)
It is recalled, in this regard, that the question put to the Court anyway
inquires only as to what the obligations of Israel are, and not whether or not Israel has
abided by these obligations.7
- To this it may be added that the Court should in any event exercise great caution in
considering the information presented to it in these proceedings, particularly given that
disinformation and systematic propaganda concerning the situation in the Gaza Strip have
pervaded the current hostilities.
Hamas’s calculated strategy of exploiting the sympathy of
all those who care for the vulnerable has manifested itself not only in the systematic use of
civilians as human shields, but also in the relentless dissemination of false information
about the humanitarian situation to media outlets and international bodies.
Statements
regarding Palestinian casualties – predominantly derived from Hamas-controlled sources –
have therefore frequently required substantial downward revision after publication, with
the UN on one occasion even reducing its published estimates of civilian fatalities by half.8
Similar misrepresentations by the UN occurred regarding Gaza’s humanitarian situation
during March 2025, when “warnings” based on incomplete data from sources within
Gaza—and disregarding significant information published by Israel—were presented as
independent UN assessments and subsequently quoted as established fact.9
- Similarly, purportedly authentic images depicting civilian suffering have often been
exposed as fabrications.10
Particularly troubling has been the exploitation of children
suffering from pre-existing and chronic illnesses, whose photos were disseminated through
various news media under glaring headlines of “famine”, without disclosing these details.11
Senior UN officials have been compelled to retract public statements concerning the
humanitarian situation after these were proven false.12
Furthermore, reports warning of
‘imminent’ or unfolding humanitarian catastrophes have time and again been demonstrated
to be inaccurate or even manipulated.13
Footnotes for the above:
7 Written Statement, para. 64.
8 The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) significantly revised data
concerning aid that has entered Gaza: for instance, it initially reported, in real time, that only 11,355 aid trucks
entered Gaza between May and September 2024, but later increased the number by over 60% to 18,796 aid trucks
now showing on its online dashboard for that same period. This figure is still a far cry from the number of aid
trucks that actually went in during that timeframe, which stands at no less than 29,955 (see real-time report: Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (9 October
2024), (9 October 2024), https://www.ochaopt.org/content/reported-impact-snapshot-gaza-strip-9-october. Online
dashboard: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gaza crossings: movement of
people and goods (Incoming supplies between 7 October 2023 and 18 January 2025),
https://www.ochaopt.org/data/crossings).
9 For instance, a publication by UNICEF on 10 March 2025 reported that severe water shortage for hundreds of
thousands is expected, not taking into account the information publicly published by COGAT before and after
such publication. This baseless statement was relied on as a UN official assessment just two days later, and
considered as a fact by various international actors. See United Nations, Gaza power cut impacts safe water access
for hundreds of thousands (10 March 2025), https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1160961; COGAT,
@cogatonline, X (formerly Twitter) (5:52 pm, 11 March 2025),
https://x.com/cogatonline/status/1899518911563067488; Hamish Falconer MP, @HFalconerMP, X (formerly
Twitter) (6:12 pm, 16 March 2025), https://x.com/HFalconerMP/status/1901335854494200116.
10 Recently, there has been an orchestrated campaign of alleged starvation by Hamas and its allies. To give one
example, a German newspaper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, recently showed that a photo of Gazans holding empty pots
was staged, with the civilians posing in front of a photographer – not in a queue for food aid. See N. Freund, “Wie
echt sind die Bilder aus Gaza?” Süddeutsche Zeitung (3 August 2025), https://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/gaza-hunger-bilder-experten-propaganda-hamas-israel-li.3291720.
11 A recent article by the Free Press has uncovered that twelve individuals who were featured in viral photos
actually suffered from serious, pre-existing health problems. In late July, the New York Times published a photo
of 18-month-old boy, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, for a story about hunger in Gaza. After details regarding
al-Mutawaq’s condition came to light, the New York Times was forced to publish a correction to the story stating
that he suffered from “pre-existing health problems affecting his brain and his muscle development”: see,
respectively, “They Became Symbols for Gazan Starvation. But All 12 Suffer from Other Health Problems.” The
Free Press, (18 August 2025), https://www.thefp.com/p/they-became-symbols-for-gazan-starvation?fireglass_rsn=true#fireglass_params=&tabid=a9deebd463e56e08&application_server_address=fgtehilacloud-14-me-west1.prod.fire.glass&popup=true&is_right_side_popup=false&start_with_session_counter=; “Gazans Are Dying of Starvation” The New York Times, (29 July 2025),
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/world/middleeast/gaza-starvation.html.
12 One noteworthy example is the statement by Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who said on live television on 20 May 2025 that “there are 14,000
babies that will die in the next 48 hours” but was compelled to withdraw that statement as baseless. See “UN aid
chief admits starving Gazan baby claim was amid ’desperation’ to let aid in” The Jerusalem Post, (30 May 2025),
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-856073.
13 This has notoriously been the case, for example, with regard to reports from the Integrated Food Security Phase
Classification (IPC), on which see more at para. 48 below. Mention may also be made of the baseless claims made
when Israel announced its intention to eliminate Hamas forces in the Rafah area