The mainstream media has jumped on board to join the anti-Israel lynch mob with allegations of mass, deliberate starvation in Gaza.
For instance, as my friend, investigative reporter David Collier recently wrote:
Unless you have been hiding under a rock all week, you would have seen the viral images of Mohammed, the child victim of the Gazan ‘famine’. The image used by most of these outlets was licensed to Anadolu, a Turkish state-run news agency headquartered in Ankara. The photos were taken by the Gaza-based photographer, Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini, and uploaded to his Instagram account on 22nd July – a day before the Express splashed it across their front page. But in fact another Gazan based account, Saeed Mohammed had shared similar images even earlier.
The global frenzy began on 23 July 2025, when the Daily Express ran the image of Mohammed on its front page. The article uses the image of Mohammed to promote the narrative of a mass famine in Gaza.
Within hours, almost every major outlet was using the image to tell the same story. Sky News, CNN, The Guardian, Daily Mail, New York Times, and The Times (UK) – they all ran with it, reinforcing the message: Gaza is gripped by mass starvation, and this image is the proof:
David goes on to debunk the photo, showing how Mohammed was born with serious genetic disorders, giving rise to his gaunt, emaciated appearance.
I write all of this as way of introduction to the following video uploaded by an adorable Gazan girl called Renad Attallah, who has a whopping 1.4 million followers on Instagram.
The first noticeable thing is her relatively good appearance for someone who claims to not had any of the listed foods in 5 months. The list – “Eggs, chicken, meat, candy, fruit, milk, chocolate, seafood, lemon, onions, garlic, cheese, and so much more” – includes:
All major protein sources (meat, eggs, milk, cheese, seafood)
Fresh produce (fruit, onion, garlic, lemon); and
Comfort items (chocolate, candy)
The implication is she’s only been eating some form of grain or processed carbs at best.
But looking at her appearance, she appears well-groomed, clean, and her face and arms are full, not emaciated. There are also no visible signs of malnutrition such as hollow cheeks or eye sockets, thinning hair, brittle skin, swelling (edema) or muscle wasting, fatigue or visible distress. And is that black makeup below her eyes?
This is even clearer from the following photo of her from less than two weeks ago:
Because she is smiling in it (unlike in the video), you can better see she still has full cheeks. I am guessing, also, they pulled her hair back for the “starving” video to make her look thinner.
In fact, she looks similar to how she looked even over a year ago:
Now don’t get me wrong, civilians in Gaza do not have it easy and my heart feels for the truly innocent ones caught up in all of this. Tragedies happen during wars, and this war wouldn’t have started without Hamas and could have ended already had Hamas returned the hostages.
I am also sure there are some food shortages in Gaza, given it is a war zone, and Hamas have been disrupting the food distribution and taking much of the food themselves and selling it at inflated prices. But I do not believe there is a widespread famine, given the dishonesty of videos like from adorable little Renad, and the photo of poor little Mohammed.
What there is clearly a shortage of is truth, with too many people eagerly gobbling up these lies.
These claims should be taken with a grain of salt.
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
A law school graduate, David Lange transitioned from work in the oil and hi-tech industries into fulltime Israel advocacy. He is a respected commentator and Middle East analyst who has often been cited by the mainstream media
