August 11, 2025 • 20 mins
Netanyahu just green-lit the reoccupation of Gaza City. How did we reach this point? While media debates focus on whether photos tell the truth, I dig into what the official records actually show. From UN famine statistics to Israeli cabinet statements to military warnings, this episode connects the dots to understand the documented reality behind the headlines.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Raheel Khan (00:01):
Hey everyone.
Welcome back to Khannecting theDots.
If you caught my last episode,you know I said we'd be covering
two urgent stories, one here inthe US and one in the Middle
East, before we return to ourdeep dive and Doge and the
agencies it gutted.
We've already covered the Texasredistricting fight.
So in this episode, we'returning our focus back to Gaza.
(00:22):
Because just this past Thursdayon August 7th, something
happened that is impossible toignore.
After more than 10 hours ofcabinet meetings, Netanyahu
Security Cabinet approved thefirst phase of what they're
calling the reoccupation of GazaCity.
This isn't just another militaryoperation.
This is a crucial step towardthe end game.
(00:44):
I've been tracking on thispodcast for months, and it
carries immediate, devastatingstakes.
Roughly 1 million Palestiniansmost already displaced, most
already starving will now beforced to move again.
The systematic starvation, theshooting of hungry civilians,
the propaganda campaign to coverit up.
(01:06):
It's all been building to thismoment.
The plan will evacuate Gaza Cityin what they're calling a five
month military operation.
The decision came despitehundreds of protestors gathering
outside Netanyahu's office inJerusalem.
Hostage families even sailedtowards Gaza's border in what
they called an SOS Mission,pleading with the government not
(01:27):
to sacrifice their loved ones.
Even Netanyahu's own militarychief, along with 19 former top
Israeli military intelligenceand police officials opposed the
plan.
Warning it would endangerhostages and trap Israel in
permanent occupation.
So how did we get here?
How did we reach a point wherestarving children became
(01:48):
acceptable Collateral damage?
Where ethnic cleansing getsbranded as military necessity?
Because the Israeli propagandamachine has been working in
overdrive, making theunthinkable seem acceptable, and
the undeniable seemquestionable.
Before we focus in on thatpropaganda machine.
Let's start with the facts.
(02:09):
The raw numbers that months ofspin have tried to make you
ignore.
Since May 27th, 2025, nearly1400 Palestinians have been
killed while seeking food,trying to get aid to survive.
That's according to the UN HumanRights Office.
859 of those deaths happened ator near Gaza Humanitarian
(02:30):
Foundation sites.
Those US and Israel supportedfood distribution points.
Another 514 were killed alongaid convoy routes.
197 Palestinians have died fromstarvation and malnutrition,
including 96 children.
From March 2nd through May 21stof this year, that's 80 days,
(02:54):
israel imposed a complete aidblockade.
During those 80 days.
Gaza needed about 40,000 trucksjust for basic survival.
They got zero.
When the Gaza HumanitarianFoundation finally started
operating in late May, they setup exactly four sites for 2.3
million people.
(03:15):
And multiple sources, israelisoldiers, American contractors,
Palestinian survivors, have alldocumented that those sites
became what one Israeli soldiercalled"killing Fields".
That's a lot of numbers, buthere's the thing, none of those
are disputed claims.
They're documented facts, andthis week's decision to occupy
(03:37):
Gaza City with the tacitapproval of the US government
shows that the numbers don'tmatter when you have a
propaganda machine designed tosow doubt on them all.
So how do you make people ignoresystematic starvation happening
in real time?
How do you provide cover forshooting hungry civilians?
You build a sophisticated systemthat weaponizes legitimate media
(04:00):
criticism and uses it to dismissthe evidence entirely.
Let's break it down using a WallStreet Journal piece from July
30th as a case study.
First- real media errors areexploited to dismiss genuine
starvation evidence.
Eitan Fischberger’s article,gaza starvation photos tell a
thousand lies" actually makesome legitimate points.
(04:23):
For example, Mohammedal-Mutawaaq.
An 18 month old whose image wentviral, does have cerebral palsy.
The New York Times initiallysaid he was born healthy.
But later corrected their storyto acknowledge his preexisting
conditions.
Same with the Osama al-Raqab.
A five-year-old with cysticfibrosis evacuated to Italy.
Some outlets use his photoswithout mentioning his
(04:46):
underlying condition.
Those are real journalismproblems that deserve criticism.
But here's what getsconveniently ignored.
Children with cerebral palsy orcystic fibrosis aren't
automatically malnourished.
But they are more vulnerable tostarvation when food is
deliberately withheld.
(05:06):
When a child with cerebral palsyis also malnourished, that's not
either or, that's doublejeopardy.
These kids need specializednutrition and medical support.
Take that away through ablockade, and they deteriorate
fast.
But for Israeli apologists,legitimate criticism of
incomplete captions becomes afoundation for dismissing
(05:27):
everything.
One missing detail becomes“Allstarvation photos are
propaganda.” Second blame getsshifted from policy and armed
gangs to UN laziness and refusalto deliver aid.
Fischberger writes about Israelisoldiers showing him"nearly 600
trucks worth of supplies" thatthe UN was supposedly refusing
(05:48):
to distribute.
Israel also claims they can'tget aid to people because Hamas
steals everything.
Here's, what he doesn't say.
The reason the UN can't safelydisperse that aid is because
Israeli back gangssystematically loot, kidnap, and
murder relief workers.
Back in 2024, the WashingtonPost obtained internal UN
(06:09):
documents showing these gangsmay be operating with passive,
if not active benevolence fromIsraeli forces.
When relief trucks travel, onIDF approved safety corridors.
They get attacked by armed gangswhile Israeli soldiers watch.
If drivers try to leave thedesignated corridors, Israeli
forces shoot at them.
(06:29):
When Palestinian police try toprotect convoys, Israeli forces
open fire on them too.
The claim that it's Hamas doingall the looting.
There's little to no evidence.
Back in May, Cindy McCain, headof the World Food Program was
asked directly by CBS news ifHamas was stealing food.
(07:18):
It's not just the World FoodProgram saying this, in July,
2025, the Times of Israelreported that an internal
U-S-A-I-D analysis, completed inlate June, reviewed 156 reported
incidents of aid theft or losssince October, 2023.
And found no evidence that Hamasconsistently stole US or UN
funded aid.
(07:39):
Most losses stemmed fromlawlessness, breakdowns in civil
order, or other armed groups.
One striking data point, atleast 44 of the 156 incidents
were either directly orindirectly due to IDF actions.
State department officials andthe IDF pushed back on the
U-S-A-I-D findings withoutproviding verifiable proof of
(08:02):
Hamas looting.
So yes, there are trucks sittingthere, but not because the UN is
incompetent or because Hamas isstealing everything.
It's because the deliveryenvironment is made impossible,
and then aid groups are blamedfor failing to deliver.
Now this may sound difficult tobelieve.
Israel controlling our enablinggangs in Gaza that are tied to
(08:24):
the looting and violence,really?
Well.
This past June, Netanyahuessentially admitted it.
He posted a video in Hebrewsaying;"On the advice of
security officials, we activatedclans in Gaza that opposed
Hamas.
What's wrong with that?" One ofthese gangs known as the Popular
Forces is led by an accusedcriminal Yasser Abu Shabab.
(08:47):
And he has at least 100 armedmen, based out of Rafa, in
Southern Gaza.
They claim to guard aid trucksgoing to the GHF sites.
But the European Council onForeign Relations has described
Abbu Shabab as a leader of acriminal gang, widely accused of
looting, not guarding the aidtrucks.
So why would Netanyahu'sgovernment do this?
(09:09):
He says it's to counter andeventually replace Hamas.
And if you remember back inepisode 12, I talked about how
Israel essentially created andfunded Hamas decades ago to
weaken the PLO.
Looks like they're at it again.
What's definition of crazy?
Again, doing the same thing overand over while expecting
different results?
(09:30):
Or maybe, Netanyahu and hiscoalition aren't expecting
different results.
Maybe it's pure calculation.
Long-term consequences bedamned.
Because staying in power mattersmore than the suffering their
choices inflict.
Third, selective statistics andcumulative totals are used to
obscure current starvationpolicy.
(09:51):
Fischberger boasts about 1.86million tons of food delivered
to Gaza since October, 2023.
Presenting it as proof Israelisn't starving Palestinians.
But here's the sleight of hand.
that's a cumulative total fromthe entire war with most of the
aid delivered early on.
By late 2024, the reality on theground told a very different
(10:15):
story.
On November 21st, 2024, theInternational Criminal Court
issued arrest warrants forNetanyahu and defense Minister
Gallant, specifically for usingstarvation as a weapon of war.
Israel's government kept denyinga starvation policy even though
finance minister BezalelSmotrich had already said back
in August, 2024, that starving 2million Gazan's might be
(10:38):
"justified and moral".
Then after unilaterally ending aceasefire, Israel imposed the 80
day total, aid blockade, thelongest and most crushing to
date.
Remember during that time, as wediscussed earlier, Gaza would've
needed at least 40,000 trucks offood and supplies just for basic
survival.
(10:59):
Zero came through.
While this blockade continued,Netanyahu and his allies
ratcheted up their rhetoric.
National Security MinisterItamar Ben-Gvir, during the
blockade said,"as long as ourhostages are languishing in the
tunnels, there is no reason fora single gram of food to enter
Gaza".
A week later, after meeting withRepublicans at Mar-a-Lago,
(11:20):
Ben-Gvir said US Republicanssupported bombing food and aid
Depots.
By July, he doubled down again.
"There is no real hunger inGaza.
If they were hungry, theywould've returned the hostages
home.
I support starving Hamas inGaza", conflating the entire
population of Gaza with Hamas.
In May, 2025, Smotrich returnedto the theme.
(11:42):
"Israel should permit only theminimum necessary aid so that
the world does not stop us andaccuse us of war crimes".
That same day.
Netanyahu said"Israel must avoida point of starvation for
practical and diplomaticreasons".
Warning that even close allies"cannot handle pictures of mass
starvation." These aren't fringevoices.
(12:04):
This is Netanyahu himself andtwo key members of his
coalition.
Voices he depends on to retainpower, openly justifying
starvation as policy.
And let's be clear, it wasinternational relief agencies,
not Israel, scrambling todeliver this aid, with Israel's
permission.
Despite a well-documentedpattern of targeting aid workers
(12:26):
and civilians at fooddistribution sites.
Remember the bombing of theWorld Central Kitchen convoy, or
the Flour Massacre?
These weren't one-offs, but partof a larger pattern.
So when pundits repeat that 1.86million tons line, remember
they're using old numbers tomask a current policy of
(12:46):
engineered deprivation.
It's like locking someone in aburning house, tossing them a
single bucket of water andcalling yourself a firefighter.
Fourth, the timing ofpublication provides academic
cover just as policy escalates.
Every single piece of evidenceI've mentioned existed before
the Wall Street Journal article.
(13:08):
Fischberger wrote his pieceknowing Israeli officials had
openly discussed starving 2million people as"justified and
moral".
He published it knowing soldiershad confessed to systematic
killing.
He published it knowing Americancontractors had testified about
war crimes.
That the Israeli government wasbacking armed gangs, attacking
aid trucks.
(13:29):
But even with all that evidence,here's something that's even
more damning.
The actions of Israeli soldiersthemselves.
While media critics argue aboutphoto captions, iDF soldiers
have been live streaming theirown atrocities.
Investigations by the WashingtonPost.
Al Jazeera and others haveverified soldiers posting
(13:49):
videos, showing among otherthings; a reservist unit hosting
a farewell barrage, four minutesof nonstop tank and machine gun
fire pulverizing a Gazaneighborhood, with soldiers
cheering while they film.
Homes set on fire while oncamera with troops narrating as
they torch rooms describingbeing told to burn houses.
(14:12):
Looting and demeaning familiesbelongings, soldiers rifling
through private homes, bedroomsand clothing drawers, including
women's underwear, mocking whatthey find and sharing it as
content.
Clips of soldiers posing withbodies or calling openly for
expulsion and resettlement.
Rhetoric, legal experts say, canbreach international
humanitarian law.
(14:34):
And the military knows it's aproblem.
As far back as February, 2024,the IDF Chief of Staff, told
Troops not to film revengevideos.
You can't claim something asenemy propaganda when the
perpetrators are the onesposting it.
And the digital trail travels.
Just last month, Belgium policedetained two Israeli soldiers at
(14:55):
a music festival after NGOsflagged their Gaza videos to
prosecutors.
The same thing happened inBrazil back in January of this
year.
The evidence is so overwhelmingthat soldiers are now facing
legal consequences acrossinternational borders.
But despite all this, pieceslike the Wall Street Journal
opinion article exist.
(15:16):
Why?
Because it's part of acoordinated propaganda machine
deployed everywhere.
Cable news pundits dismissinghunger photos.
Social media influencers callingstarvation reports staged.
Politicians waving away evidenceas Hamas propaganda.
They do this knowing better.
This isn't ignorance, it'sdeliberative narrative
(15:37):
management.
Which brings us to what happenedwith Netanyahu and the security
cabinet last Thursday, August7th.
They approved the plan to occupyGaza City.
The first phase of what everyoneunderstands is a broader
reoccupation Netanyahusummarized it as a five point
plan.
Number one, Hamas is disarmed.
Number two, all hostages freed.
(15:58):
Number three, Gazademilitarized.
Number four, Israel retainsoverriding security control.
And number five, a non Israelipeaceful civilian
administration.
On the fifth point Netanyahusaid it cannot be Hamas or the
PLO, suggesting a non- israeliadministration drawn from Arab
partners.
(16:18):
The vote came after more than 10hours of meetings, but perhaps
most telling was the internalconflict.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamirwarned the plan would endanger
hostages and risk permanentmilitary rule over 2 million
Palestinians.
Cabinet ministers shouted himdown.
This is the same man who saidthe IDF had already met and even
(16:39):
exceeded the operationsobjectives in Gaza.
When your own top general saysthe mission is complete and
warns the next step willbackfire, and you shout him
down, that tells you this moveis about something other than
security.
When Zamir stood his ground,Netanyahu essentially told him,
if you don't like the planresign.
(17:00):
Regionally, the pushback wasimmediate.
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egyptall rejected the plan, calling
it forced displacement,disguised as diplomacy.
Jordan's foreign minister calledit a recipe for endless war.
Egypt warned it would blow upregional stability.
Saudi officials made it clearthey will not be part of any
(17:20):
administration imposed by anoccupying force.
The international response fromthe west?
Stuck in platitudes, Germany,finally after two years of
atrocities, announced an armsfreeze.
The UK Prime Minister issued"strong condemnations" saying,
this move brings"only morebloodshed".
The master of stating theobvious.
(17:42):
At least they made an attempt tosound concerned though.
Trump's administration.
They simply said, it's up toIsrael to make its own
decisions.
So here's what I want you totake away from today's episode.
The propaganda campaign wasnever about media accuracy.
It was about providing cover forsystematic atrocity.
(18:02):
While pundits nitpicked photocaptions, and dismissed
starvation as staged Netanyahuwas positioning himself for this
moment.
Moving forward with thedeliberate campaign of ethnic
cleansing.
Last week's decision isn't theend, it's the beginning of the
final phase.
Remember the so-calledhumanitarian city plan in Rafa?
(18:22):
The one critics around the worldcalled a concentration camp?
Convenient, isn't it?
That Gaza City is in the north.
The forced evacuation sendspeople South.
Three of the aid distributionsites are in the south.
Israel backed gangs operate mostfreely in the south.
The concentration plan isn'ttheoretical anymore.
(18:44):
It's happening.
It's just not going to be a"humanitarian city" with all the
infrastructure that Katz hadenvisioned because that was"too
expensive" for Netanyahu.
So now conditions are gonna bebare bones, harsher, more
coercive, designed to make lifeunlivable and push people to
leave the country entirely.
(19:05):
And Israel isn't hiding this.
They're advertising it openly,using words like forced
relocation, voluntary departure,starvation, and total
destruction.
Yet somehow when people pointthis stuff out, they're the ones
accused of spreading propaganda.
The real propaganda isn't comingfrom Hamas.
It's coming from the peopletelling you to ignore what
(19:27):
Israeli officials are saying, intheir own words.
The evidence is undeniable.
The only question left is whatwe call this what it is.
State directed ethnic cleansing,happening in real time.
With the world's most powerfulcountries, providing the
weapons, the diplomatic cover,and the narrative that excuses
(19:49):
it.
Naming it isn't just semantics.
It's the first step to breakingthe cycle of denial that allows
it to continue.
Until we're willing to name it,we can't stop it.
If you are willing, then act onit.
Demand your representative stopfunding Israel.
Donate to organizationsdocumenting these crimes.
(20:11):
Support the boycott, divestment,and sanctions movement, and
boycott Israeli products.
You can even use apps likeBoycat to identify which
products support Israel andwhich don't.
Whatever you do, don't letpeople dismiss this as
"complicated" or"there's nothingwe can do".
That's the final layer of thepropaganda.
(20:33):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode.
If you found it informative andit helped you connect some dots
in the Middle East conflict,please share and leave a review.
Consider subscribing whereveryou get your podcasts.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay critical, andstay connected.
Hey everyone.
Welcome back to Khannecting theDots.
If you caught my last episode,you know I said we'd be covering
two urgent stories, one here inthe US and one in the Middle
East, before we return to ourdeep dive and Doge and the
agencies it gutted.
We've already covered the Texasredistricting fight.
So in this episode, we'returning our focus back to Gaza.
(00:22):
Because just this past Thursdayon August 7th, something
happened that is impossible toignore.
After more than 10 hours ofcabinet meetings, Netanyahu
Security Cabinet approved thefirst phase of what they're
calling the reoccupation of GazaCity.
This isn't just another militaryoperation.
This is a crucial step towardthe end game.
(00:44):
I've been tracking on thispodcast for months, and it
carries immediate, devastatingstakes.
Roughly 1 million Palestiniansmost already displaced, most
already starving will now beforced to move again.
The systematic starvation, theshooting of hungry civilians,
the propaganda campaign to coverit up.
(01:06):
It's all been building to thismoment.
The plan will evacuate Gaza Cityin what they're calling a five
month military operation.
The decision came despitehundreds of protestors gathering
outside Netanyahu's office inJerusalem.
Hostage families even sailedtowards Gaza's border in what
they called an SOS Mission,pleading with the government not
(01:27):
to sacrifice their loved ones.
Even Netanyahu's own militarychief, along with 19 former top
Israeli military intelligenceand police officials opposed the
plan.
Warning it would endangerhostages and trap Israel in
permanent occupation.
So how did we get here?
How did we reach a point wherestarving children became
(01:48):
acceptable Collateral damage?
Where ethnic cleansing getsbranded as military necessity?
Because the Israeli propagandamachine has been working in
overdrive, making theunthinkable seem acceptable, and
the undeniable seemquestionable.
Before we focus in on thatpropaganda machine.
Let's start with the facts.
(02:09):
The raw numbers that months ofspin have tried to make you
ignore.
Since May 27th, 2025, nearly1400 Palestinians have been
killed while seeking food,trying to get aid to survive.
That's according to the UN HumanRights Office.
859 of those deaths happened ator near Gaza Humanitarian
(02:30):
Foundation sites.
Those US and Israel supportedfood distribution points.
Another 514 were killed alongaid convoy routes.
197 Palestinians have died fromstarvation and malnutrition,
including 96 children.
From March 2nd through May 21stof this year, that's 80 days,
(02:54):
israel imposed a complete aidblockade.
During those 80 days.
Gaza needed about 40,000 trucksjust for basic survival.
They got zero.
When the Gaza HumanitarianFoundation finally started
operating in late May, they setup exactly four sites for 2.3
million people.
(03:15):
And multiple sources, israelisoldiers, American contractors,
Palestinian survivors, have alldocumented that those sites
became what one Israeli soldiercalled"killing Fields".
That's a lot of numbers, buthere's the thing, none of those
are disputed claims.
They're documented facts, andthis week's decision to occupy
(03:37):
Gaza City with the tacitapproval of the US government
shows that the numbers don'tmatter when you have a
propaganda machine designed tosow doubt on them all.
So how do you make people ignoresystematic starvation happening
in real time?
How do you provide cover forshooting hungry civilians?
You build a sophisticated systemthat weaponizes legitimate media
(04:00):
criticism and uses it to dismissthe evidence entirely.
Let's break it down using a WallStreet Journal piece from July
30th as a case study.
First- real media errors areexploited to dismiss genuine
starvation evidence.
Eitan Fischberger’s article,gaza starvation photos tell a
thousand lies" actually makesome legitimate points.
(04:23):
For example, Mohammedal-Mutawaaq.
An 18 month old whose image wentviral, does have cerebral palsy.
The New York Times initiallysaid he was born healthy.
But later corrected their storyto acknowledge his preexisting
conditions.
Same with the Osama al-Raqab.
A five-year-old with cysticfibrosis evacuated to Italy.
Some outlets use his photoswithout mentioning his
(04:46):
underlying condition.
Those are real journalismproblems that deserve criticism.
But here's what getsconveniently ignored.
Children with cerebral palsy orcystic fibrosis aren't
automatically malnourished.
But they are more vulnerable tostarvation when food is
deliberately withheld.
(05:06):
When a child with cerebral palsyis also malnourished, that's not
either or, that's doublejeopardy.
These kids need specializednutrition and medical support.
Take that away through ablockade, and they deteriorate
fast.
But for Israeli apologists,legitimate criticism of
incomplete captions becomes afoundation for dismissing
(05:27):
everything.
One missing detail becomes“Allstarvation photos are
propaganda.” Second blame getsshifted from policy and armed
gangs to UN laziness and refusalto deliver aid.
Fischberger writes about Israelisoldiers showing him"nearly 600
trucks worth of supplies" thatthe UN was supposedly refusing
(05:48):
to distribute.
Israel also claims they can'tget aid to people because Hamas
steals everything.
Here's, what he doesn't say.
The reason the UN can't safelydisperse that aid is because
Israeli back gangssystematically loot, kidnap, and
murder relief workers.
Back in 2024, the WashingtonPost obtained internal UN
(06:09):
documents showing these gangsmay be operating with passive,
if not active benevolence fromIsraeli forces.
When relief trucks travel, onIDF approved safety corridors.
They get attacked by armed gangswhile Israeli soldiers watch.
If drivers try to leave thedesignated corridors, Israeli
forces shoot at them.
(06:29):
When Palestinian police try toprotect convoys, Israeli forces
open fire on them too.
The claim that it's Hamas doingall the looting.
There's little to no evidence.
Back in May, Cindy McCain, headof the World Food Program was
asked directly by CBS news ifHamas was stealing food.
(07:18):
It's not just the World FoodProgram saying this, in July,
2025, the Times of Israelreported that an internal
U-S-A-I-D analysis, completed inlate June, reviewed 156 reported
incidents of aid theft or losssince October, 2023.
And found no evidence that Hamasconsistently stole US or UN
funded aid.
(07:39):
Most losses stemmed fromlawlessness, breakdowns in civil
order, or other armed groups.
One striking data point, atleast 44 of the 156 incidents
were either directly orindirectly due to IDF actions.
State department officials andthe IDF pushed back on the
U-S-A-I-D findings withoutproviding verifiable proof of
(08:02):
Hamas looting.
So yes, there are trucks sittingthere, but not because the UN is
incompetent or because Hamas isstealing everything.
It's because the deliveryenvironment is made impossible,
and then aid groups are blamedfor failing to deliver.
Now this may sound difficult tobelieve.
Israel controlling our enablinggangs in Gaza that are tied to
(08:24):
the looting and violence,really?
Well.
This past June, Netanyahuessentially admitted it.
He posted a video in Hebrewsaying;"On the advice of
security officials, we activatedclans in Gaza that opposed
Hamas.
What's wrong with that?" One ofthese gangs known as the Popular
Forces is led by an accusedcriminal Yasser Abu Shabab.
(08:47):
And he has at least 100 armedmen, based out of Rafa, in
Southern Gaza.
They claim to guard aid trucksgoing to the GHF sites.
But the European Council onForeign Relations has described
Abbu Shabab as a leader of acriminal gang, widely accused of
looting, not guarding the aidtrucks.
So why would Netanyahu'sgovernment do this?
(09:09):
He says it's to counter andeventually replace Hamas.
And if you remember back inepisode 12, I talked about how
Israel essentially created andfunded Hamas decades ago to
weaken the PLO.
Looks like they're at it again.
What's definition of crazy?
Again, doing the same thing overand over while expecting
different results?
(09:30):
Or maybe, Netanyahu and hiscoalition aren't expecting
different results.
Maybe it's pure calculation.
Long-term consequences bedamned.
Because staying in power mattersmore than the suffering their
choices inflict.
Third, selective statistics andcumulative totals are used to
obscure current starvationpolicy.
(09:51):
Fischberger boasts about 1.86million tons of food delivered
to Gaza since October, 2023.
Presenting it as proof Israelisn't starving Palestinians.
But here's the sleight of hand.
that's a cumulative total fromthe entire war with most of the
aid delivered early on.
By late 2024, the reality on theground told a very different
(10:15):
story.
On November 21st, 2024, theInternational Criminal Court
issued arrest warrants forNetanyahu and defense Minister
Gallant, specifically for usingstarvation as a weapon of war.
Israel's government kept denyinga starvation policy even though
finance minister BezalelSmotrich had already said back
in August, 2024, that starving 2million Gazan's might be
(10:38):
"justified and moral".
Then after unilaterally ending aceasefire, Israel imposed the 80
day total, aid blockade, thelongest and most crushing to
date.
Remember during that time, as wediscussed earlier, Gaza would've
needed at least 40,000 trucks offood and supplies just for basic
survival.
(10:59):
Zero came through.
While this blockade continued,Netanyahu and his allies
ratcheted up their rhetoric.
National Security MinisterItamar Ben-Gvir, during the
blockade said,"as long as ourhostages are languishing in the
tunnels, there is no reason fora single gram of food to enter
Gaza".
A week later, after meeting withRepublicans at Mar-a-Lago,
(11:20):
Ben-Gvir said US Republicanssupported bombing food and aid
Depots.
By July, he doubled down again.
"There is no real hunger inGaza.
If they were hungry, theywould've returned the hostages
home.
I support starving Hamas inGaza", conflating the entire
population of Gaza with Hamas.
In May, 2025, Smotrich returnedto the theme.
(11:42):
"Israel should permit only theminimum necessary aid so that
the world does not stop us andaccuse us of war crimes".
That same day.
Netanyahu said"Israel must avoida point of starvation for
practical and diplomaticreasons".
Warning that even close allies"cannot handle pictures of mass
starvation." These aren't fringevoices.
(12:04):
This is Netanyahu himself andtwo key members of his
coalition.
Voices he depends on to retainpower, openly justifying
starvation as policy.
And let's be clear, it wasinternational relief agencies,
not Israel, scrambling todeliver this aid, with Israel's
permission.
Despite a well-documentedpattern of targeting aid workers
(12:26):
and civilians at fooddistribution sites.
Remember the bombing of theWorld Central Kitchen convoy, or
the Flour Massacre?
These weren't one-offs, but partof a larger pattern.
So when pundits repeat that 1.86million tons line, remember
they're using old numbers tomask a current policy of
(12:46):
engineered deprivation.
It's like locking someone in aburning house, tossing them a
single bucket of water andcalling yourself a firefighter.
Fourth, the timing ofpublication provides academic
cover just as policy escalates.
Every single piece of evidenceI've mentioned existed before
the Wall Street Journal article.
(13:08):
Fischberger wrote his pieceknowing Israeli officials had
openly discussed starving 2million people as"justified and
moral".
He published it knowing soldiershad confessed to systematic
killing.
He published it knowing Americancontractors had testified about
war crimes.
That the Israeli government wasbacking armed gangs, attacking
aid trucks.
(13:29):
But even with all that evidence,here's something that's even
more damning.
The actions of Israeli soldiersthemselves.
While media critics argue aboutphoto captions, iDF soldiers
have been live streaming theirown atrocities.
Investigations by the WashingtonPost.
Al Jazeera and others haveverified soldiers posting
(13:49):
videos, showing among otherthings; a reservist unit hosting
a farewell barrage, four minutesof nonstop tank and machine gun
fire pulverizing a Gazaneighborhood, with soldiers
cheering while they film.
Homes set on fire while oncamera with troops narrating as
they torch rooms describingbeing told to burn houses.
(14:12):
Looting and demeaning familiesbelongings, soldiers rifling
through private homes, bedroomsand clothing drawers, including
women's underwear, mocking whatthey find and sharing it as
content.
Clips of soldiers posing withbodies or calling openly for
expulsion and resettlement.
Rhetoric, legal experts say, canbreach international
humanitarian law.
(14:34):
And the military knows it's aproblem.
As far back as February, 2024,the IDF Chief of Staff, told
Troops not to film revengevideos.
You can't claim something asenemy propaganda when the
perpetrators are the onesposting it.
And the digital trail travels.
Just last month, Belgium policedetained two Israeli soldiers at
(14:55):
a music festival after NGOsflagged their Gaza videos to
prosecutors.
The same thing happened inBrazil back in January of this
year.
The evidence is so overwhelmingthat soldiers are now facing
legal consequences acrossinternational borders.
But despite all this, pieceslike the Wall Street Journal
opinion article exist.
(15:16):
Why?
Because it's part of acoordinated propaganda machine
deployed everywhere.
Cable news pundits dismissinghunger photos.
Social media influencers callingstarvation reports staged.
Politicians waving away evidenceas Hamas propaganda.
They do this knowing better.
This isn't ignorance, it'sdeliberative narrative
(15:37):
management.
Which brings us to what happenedwith Netanyahu and the security
cabinet last Thursday, August7th.
They approved the plan to occupyGaza City.
The first phase of what everyoneunderstands is a broader
reoccupation Netanyahusummarized it as a five point
plan.
Number one, Hamas is disarmed.
Number two, all hostages freed.
(15:58):
Number three, Gazademilitarized.
Number four, Israel retainsoverriding security control.
And number five, a non Israelipeaceful civilian
administration.
On the fifth point Netanyahusaid it cannot be Hamas or the
PLO, suggesting a non- israeliadministration drawn from Arab
partners.
(16:18):
The vote came after more than 10hours of meetings, but perhaps
most telling was the internalconflict.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamirwarned the plan would endanger
hostages and risk permanentmilitary rule over 2 million
Palestinians.
Cabinet ministers shouted himdown.
This is the same man who saidthe IDF had already met and even
(16:39):
exceeded the operationsobjectives in Gaza.
When your own top general saysthe mission is complete and
warns the next step willbackfire, and you shout him
down, that tells you this moveis about something other than
security.
When Zamir stood his ground,Netanyahu essentially told him,
if you don't like the planresign.
(17:00):
Regionally, the pushback wasimmediate.
Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egyptall rejected the plan, calling
it forced displacement,disguised as diplomacy.
Jordan's foreign minister calledit a recipe for endless war.
Egypt warned it would blow upregional stability.
Saudi officials made it clearthey will not be part of any
(17:20):
administration imposed by anoccupying force.
The international response fromthe west?
Stuck in platitudes, Germany,finally after two years of
atrocities, announced an armsfreeze.
The UK Prime Minister issued"strong condemnations" saying,
this move brings"only morebloodshed".
The master of stating theobvious.
(17:42):
At least they made an attempt tosound concerned though.
Trump's administration.
They simply said, it's up toIsrael to make its own
decisions.
So here's what I want you totake away from today's episode.
The propaganda campaign wasnever about media accuracy.
It was about providing cover forsystematic atrocity.
(18:02):
While pundits nitpicked photocaptions, and dismissed
starvation as staged Netanyahuwas positioning himself for this
moment.
Moving forward with thedeliberate campaign of ethnic
cleansing.
Last week's decision isn't theend, it's the beginning of the
final phase.
Remember the so-calledhumanitarian city plan in Rafa?
(18:22):
The one critics around the worldcalled a concentration camp?
Convenient, isn't it?
That Gaza City is in the north.
The forced evacuation sendspeople South.
Three of the aid distributionsites are in the south.
Israel backed gangs operate mostfreely in the south.
The concentration plan isn'ttheoretical anymore.
(18:44):
It's happening.
It's just not going to be a"humanitarian city" with all the
infrastructure that Katz hadenvisioned because that was"too
expensive" for Netanyahu.
So now conditions are gonna bebare bones, harsher, more
coercive, designed to make lifeunlivable and push people to
leave the country entirely.
(19:05):
And Israel isn't hiding this.
They're advertising it openly,using words like forced
relocation, voluntary departure,starvation, and total
destruction.
Yet somehow when people pointthis stuff out, they're the ones
accused of spreading propaganda.
The real propaganda isn't comingfrom Hamas.
It's coming from the peopletelling you to ignore what
(19:27):
Israeli officials are saying, intheir own words.
The evidence is undeniable.
The only question left is whatwe call this what it is.
State directed ethnic cleansing,happening in real time.
With the world's most powerfulcountries, providing the
weapons, the diplomatic cover,and the narrative that excuses
(19:49):
it.
Naming it isn't just semantics.
It's the first step to breakingthe cycle of denial that allows
it to continue.
Until we're willing to name it,we can't stop it.
If you are willing, then act onit.
Demand your representative stopfunding Israel.
Donate to organizationsdocumenting these crimes.
(20:11):
Support the boycott, divestment,and sanctions movement, and
boycott Israeli products.
You can even use apps likeBoycat to identify which
products support Israel andwhich don't.
Whatever you do, don't letpeople dismiss this as
"complicated" or"there's nothingwe can do".
That's the final layer of thepropaganda.
(20:33):
Thank you for listening to thisepisode.
If you found it informative andit helped you connect some dots
in the Middle East conflict,please share and leave a review.
Consider subscribing whereveryou get your podcasts.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay critical, andstay connected.
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