As mainstream media continues to push the false narrative that Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians in Gaza, Ambassador Yechiel Leiter is setting the record straight. Speaking on The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, the Israeli ambassador to the United States laid out the facts behind the crisis—and it’s not what the headlines suggest.
Listen to the audio here:
“The truth is simple: Israel does not starve civilian populations, even ones that harbor terrorist organizations,” said Ambassador Leiter.
Ambassador Leiter responded forcefully to false international accusations, including recent declarations by the United Kingdom, France, and Canada recognizing a Palestinian state while Hamas still holds hostages. “It’s like announcing October 7th—our 9/11—as Palestine Independence Day. It’s insane. These leaders have lost their moral compass,” he said.
Humanitarian Aid Being Looted by Hamas
While media images of starving children circulate online—many of which, according to Ambassador Leiter, are misrepresented or fabricated—he emphasized that massive amounts of humanitarian aid are indeed entering Gaza. The real problem? Hamas is hijacking it.
“We’ve seen 2,174 trucks enter Gaza between May 19 and July 28,” he said, referencing data from the United Nations’ own food tracking site. “Only 260 of those trucks actually reached their intended destination. That means Hamas diverted 90% of the aid.”
Once intercepted, the food is either used by Hamas to supply their fighters or sold on the black market at exorbitant prices to desperate civilians, allowing the terror organization to profit and rebuild.
Leiter was clear: “The UN, whether intentionally or not, is enabling Hamas to reconstitute itself.”
Bypassing Hamas: A New Strategy
To counter the corruption and abuse, Israel partnered with the U.S. to establish the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a mechanism designed to get aid directly to civilians while bypassing Hamas. “It’s working,” said Ambassador Leiter. “And predictably, it enraged the UN—because they’re being circumvented.”
“Yes, people are hungry. But it’s not because of Israeli policy. It’s because Hamas decides who eats and who doesn’t,” Leiter explained. “If you’re not loyal to them or can’t afford their black-market prices, you go hungry.”
The Moral Double Standard
Ambassador Leiter highlighted what he sees as a staggering global hypocrisy. “No other country has faced 450 miles of terror tunnels like Israel. No other democracy has been expected to feed an enemy that carried out the worst attack on its people since the Holocaust.”
He called out British Labour leader Keir Starmer for criticizing Israel while ignoring the UK’s own military history: “In just two days during WWII, Britain dropped enough bombs on Dresden to kill 25,000 people—and now they’re lecturing us about proportionality?”
A Unique—and Dangerous—Precedent
Ari Hoffman noted that in a global search for historical examples of nations providing aid to enemies during active conflict, Israel stands alone. “The only example I could find was Israel feeding Gaza.”
Ambassador Leiter agreed: “It’s absolutely unprecedented. But our goals remain the same: free the hostages, destroy Hamas, and ensure that Gaza can never again be used as a staging ground for terrorism—not against Jews, Muslims, Christians, or anyone.”
Despite fighting an enemy embedded among civilians, Leiter stressed that Israel remains committed to ethical warfare. “Even with our hands tied behind our backs, we continue to ensure aid gets in—even if it helps the very people trying to destroy us.”
