Opinion
By Haytham Alzeer
Mr. Anolik’s article is a characteristic example of reality reversal: it silences the crimes documented daily by international organizations and attempts to present the occupying power as a “victim,” while in practice it acts as the perpetrator.
1. The famine imposed on Gaza
The UN itself and the World Health Organization have repeatedly warned that a manufactured famine prevails in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli blockade.
On 18 March 2024, the UN Commission of Inquiry emphasized that “the restriction of food, fuel, and medicine entry by Israel constitutes collective punishment and the possible use of starvation as a method of warfare,” which is prohibited under International Humanitarian Law.
The WFP (World Food Programme) reported that 90% of children under five in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague, in a January 2024 ruling, recognized that there is “reasonable evidence of genocide” and ordered Israel to take immediate measures to prevent starvation.
When an entire population is deprived of the basic means of survival, one cannot speak of “tragic collateral damage”; this is a systematic war crime.
The latest IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) report, supported by the UN, now confirms that famine (IPC Phase 5) exists in Gaza, specifically in Gaza City, and predicts its spread to areas such as Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September 2025.
More than 500,000 people are already suffering from famine, a number expected to exceed 640,000 within weeks.
At least 132,000 children under the age of five, as well as 55,500 pregnant and breastfeeding women, urgently require nutritional support.
In Gaza City alone, the famine situation is confirmed by “sufficiently reliable data.”
Furthermore, between 16 August and 30 September 2025, it is expected that 32% of Gaza’s population will experience famine, while 58% will be in a state of “Emergency” (IPC Phase 4).
2. Statements by far-right ministers in the Netanyahu government
Official Israeli rhetoric reveals the real intention:
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich declared (March 2024): “Gaza must be flattened; there is no humanitarian crisis.”
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir openly spoke of “transferring” Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank – in other words, ethnic cleansing.
These statements are not “exaggerations”; they reflect the political line of a government implementing apartheid and systematic violence, as documented by Amnesty International (2022) and Human Rights Watch (2021) before October 2023.
3. Atrocities in the West Bank
While the ambassador focuses exclusively on Gaza, he omits the escalation of violence in the West Bank, where:
According to OCHA (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), 2023 and 2024 were the bloodiest years since 2005, with hundreds of Palestinian civilians killed by the Israeli army and settlers.
Settlers, under the protection of the Israeli military, carry out attacks on villages, torch homes, and destroy crops. The EU itself has described these acts as “settler terrorism.”
These attacks are not isolated incidents but part of a strategy to drive Palestinians from their land.
4. The invocation of “democracy”
Mr. Anolik presents Israel as a model of “democracy at war.” Yet he omits that:
Israel governs two different regimes in the same geographic space: full political rights for Israeli citizens and a military occupation regime for millions of Palestinians with no political rights at all.
This very model has been characterized by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and even Israeli organizations (e.g., B’Tselem) as apartheid.
A “democracy” built on occupation, expulsion, and oppression is nothing more than an illusion.
Conclusion
Israel seeks to reverse reality:
The famine in Gaza is not a natural phenomenon but an imposed war tactic.
Statements by top ministers reveal an intent of genocide and ethnic cleansing.
In the West Bank, settlers commit atrocities under military cover.
The “democratic” façade cannot conceal a regime of occupation and apartheid.
The ambassador’s attempt to present Israeli aggression as “defense” and to silence well-documented war crimes constitutes, at the very least, an affront to the thousands of innocent victims documented by international organizations and an insult to readers’ intelligence.
