As Jews, we primarily use Yom Kippur as a time for fasting and repenting. Nothing stops Jews from repenting other days; in fact, it is encouraged for people to do it daily. There is a special need for the critics of Israel to repent for their false charges against Israel of starving Gazans.
The assertion that Israel is not starving Gazans did not come from the Israelis, though they have been claiming that since their military operations in Gaza to counter the murderous attacks of Oct. 7, 2023. The statement that Israel was providing proper nutrition came from a source not particularly friendly to Jews – UNICEF.
A report titled Gaza Nutrition SMART Survey Result addresses the issue from an analysis done between May 15 to June 15, 2026. The report found that since the ceasefire malnutrition has plummeted in the area. Medical admissions for treatment of acute malnutrition that had peaked at 17,000 children in October of 2025 had fallen to 3,000 by March 2026.
One cannot analyze how every aspect of nutrition is being handled just by looking at Gaza. To get a better barometer you must compare it to other areas in the region. For example, when comparing data from the World Bank and U.N. affiliated hunger monitoring program to other countries in the area, the Free Press found Gaza has one of the lowest rates of acute malnutrition at 0.5%.
There is another concern. It is what is called stunting. That refers to impaired growth and development due to malnutrition. The report states the region’s average percentage is 26%. In Gaza it is 12%.
Not only has the issue of malnutrition been mitigated, but a new issue has cropped up in the eyes of UNICEF – obesity. They say 4% of children under the age of five show signs of being overweight.
One might think how did the population go from surviving malnutrition to being obese in such a short period. One might perceive that the charges of malnutrition in the first place were significantly overstated. All you had to do was observe the pictures of overweight women and children coming out of Gaza.
That might be because this study relied on the accepted standard for analyzing malnutrition. That standard is weight for height z-scores. Researchers stated previously because of the conflict they could not properly collect information on the population.
Let me translate this for you. There were no proper analyses being done of the population, so the press accepted ad hominem attacks against Israel that they were starving the people of Gaza. That is while Hamas was stealing the delivery of caravans of trucks full of food staples, starving the people of Gaza and pointing their fingers across the border at Israelis. And a willing international press corps eat up the horse manure being fed them creating another blood libel against Jews.
If we had real people with some integrity in our press you would think two things would occur. They would first report the truth about the current dietary condition as documented by an independent international agency they give credence to on the occasion it is useful to their cause. And second, they would recant their prior erroneous reports. As the expression goes, don’t hold your breath.
What they will do is report the likes or Hasan Piker, Abdul El-Sayed and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) continuing their false charges against Israel and never questioning the validity of the charges. In fact, we will be lucky if they even report the results of the study because that would let their readers in on the truth that they have been lying about Israel for a long time and they certainly would not want that.
Once the left creates a lie, they keep repeating that lie undaunted by facts. If it serves the cause of their political purposes it is justified to carry the lie on into perpetuity. You now know the truth. The Gazans are being well-fed by Israel and international organizations. They have been well-fed only intervened by the actions by Hamas.
Don’t expect these people to be repenting soon.
Bruce L. Bialosky is a former presidential appointee to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
