July 2025 exposed a propaganda machine built on AI fakery, photo fraud, and hostage abuse—masking Hamas’s role in aid theft, manipulation, and cruelly prolonging the war. While Gaza terrorists starve Israeli captives, Israel is blamed for food shortages exaggerated, faked, and ultimately the responsibility of Hamas and its abettors, including Western politicians and media.
On July 31, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released a chilling video of Rom Braslavski, a 21‑year‑old Israeli‑German hostage abducted on October 7. Filmed days earlier, the footage showed Braslavski lying motionless—skeletal, with sunken cheeks and glassy eyes—as he weakly pleaded, “I haven’t eaten in days. Please save me.” Israeli officials confirmed the video’s authenticity confidentially, and his family reported: “Rom is strong. But even the strongest man cannot survive without food and water. They starved him to make a point.”
This is the only verified case of actual starvation in Gaza—an intentional act inflicted by captors with access to food. Meanwhile, a separate video emerged from a tunnel beneath southern Gaza City, filmed via a seized phone. It shows three armed Hamas operatives feasting on roasted lamb, fruit platters, desserts, and fizzy drinks—laughing and scrolling through phones in an air‑conditioned bunker. The contrast between Rom’s fragile state and his captors’ indulgence was stark.
Prime Minister Netanyahu denounced it: “We are witnessing a monstrous inversion of morality. Our hostages are starving in darkness while the terrorists who hold them dine underground like kings.” Opposition leader Benny Gantz added: “This is no longer a humanitarian crisis. It’s a campaign of terror that uses hunger as a weapon—not just against hostages, but against the truth.”
Fake Famine Courtesy of Artificial Intelligence
While Rom was starving, social media was flooded with images of skeletal children, infants cradled in thin arms, and women cooking grass—all tagged #GazaFamine and circulated by activists and NGOs.
Investigations by watchdogs Cyabra, FakeReporter, and ImPACT‑se revealed that hundreds of these images were fabricated via AI tools like Midjourney and DALL·E; analysts identified inconsistent shadows, distorted limbs, and metadata indicating art generation rather than live photography. One image formerly connected to a child clinging to a “dead mother” was traced back to a 2022 DeviantArt contest—but it was shared widely in July 2025 with captions blaming Israeli policy.
Despite notifications, many accounts refused to remove the content. One image alone garnered over 18 million views across TikTok and Instagram. Ilan Sztulman, head of Israel’s digital diplomacy unit, warned: “The abuse of AI imagery to simulate famine is not just deceitful—it’s dangerous.”
The Cropped Child Photo—A Medical Deception
Another widely circulated image showed a frail boy sitting on a mattress, captioned “Starving Child in Gaza,” and shared by UNRWA staff, prominent media, and even an EU MEP presentation.
In fact, medical investigators clarified that the child had a chronic neuromuscular disorder diagnosed before the war, not malnutrition. The uncropped version of the photo revealed a visibly healthy mother and older brother with packaged snacks. HonestReporting traced the image to a Rafah family and confirmed food availability—“He is ill, but we have food. We are not starving.” The cropped frame was a deliberate visual manipulation. The original deceptive photo was seen by tens of millions. 1% were exposed to the mealy-mouthed technical correction.
Shops Overflowing, Tunnels Feasting
Contrary to famine narratives, footage captured in July showed well-stocked produce markets across Gaza City—including Shuja’iyya and Zeitoun markets selling tomatoes, mangoes, cucumbers, and soft drinks. Gazan journalist Abu Ibrahim filmed children queuing for ice cream near the Al-Saraya junction on July 20, and other videos showed stalls selling rotisserie chicken and fresh bread.
Simultaneously, leaked video aired by Channel 14 revealed three Hamas commanders dining lavishly in a tunnel beneath Tel al-Hawa. The scene—well lit, with refrigeration and cooking equipment—displayed not deprivation, but abundance. IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari remarked: “While they whine about famine, they are eating better than many civilians in Tel Aviv.”
Aid Keeps Flowing—But Not to the People
According to COGAT, over 10,500 aid trucks entered Gaza in July via Israel—delivering about 12,000 tons of food, 14 million liters of water, and large quantities of medical supplies.
Nonetheless, reports from WFP, USAID, and diplomats confirm that Hamas systematically steals and diverts shipments. Israeli surveillance showed convoys being rerouted to Khan Younis tunnels and guarded warehouses. During a closed-door UN Security Council session on July 24, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan presented drone imagery of masked gunmen surrounding flour trucks and forcing them off designated UN routes.
UN statements continue to place blame exclusively on Israel, without acknowledging Hamas’s role. Referring to this duplicity, Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar declared: “Hamas steals the food. Hamas blocks delivery. And then Hamas tells the world it’s Israel’s fault.”
While UN agencies and Western media focus on civilian suffering, Hamas is solely to blame for creating that suffering.
What the World Chooses Not to See
July 2025 revealed the famine narrative’s fragility. AI-generated lies, photo fraud, luxury tunnel banquets, hostage abuse—all expose the reality: Hamas does not preside over famine; it engineers the narrative. Starvation in Gaza is not an accident—it’s intentional. It’s imposed on hostages, hidden from aid victims, and sanitized by institutions that refuse to name the perpetrators.
Global coverage continues to emphasize unverified claims of dysfunction and “man-made famine” in Gaza, yet the only confirmed case of intentional starvation is that of Rom Braslavski. His skeletal condition—truly undernourished, tethered to captivity, surrounded by silence—is the only image that reflects genuine hunger in Gaza today. His sister Lea summed it up: “This is not about hunger. This is about cruelty. They wanted to break him slowly. They did—and they sent a message.”
Until accountability is demanded of cynical self-serving politicians and media propagandists, the suffering will continue. And the lies will continue to thrive.
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