The world is horrified by the hunger in Gaza. Now, more Israelis are speaking out.

I am on a summer trip to the United States and Canada. The usual: sightseeing, eating the food we are hard pressed to find in Israel, and catching up with friends and family.

After the hugs and the shared jokes, conversations inevitably arrive at images of hungry, even starving children and adults in Gaza, some of whom have been killed trying to reach aid. The talk soon veers into  searching questions about chaos, not just on the ground, but in how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government have downplayed and outright denied reports of starvation in Gaza.

Netanyahu insisted as recently as this week that “there is no starvation in Gaza.” Yet on Sunday, after heavy international pressure, after even the slickest of professionals peddling in Israeli public diplomacy – like Israeli actor turned Hollywood producer Noa Tishby – have been at a loss for words, he directed the air force to drop food into the strip.  He also greenlighted assistance for aid convoys in driving through the largely flattened Gaza Strip through “designated humanitarian corridors,” and allowed Egyptian trucks to enter Gaza. 

Dina Kraft is a journalist, podcaster and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller, My Friend Anne Frank, together with Hannah Pick-Goslar. She lives in Tel Aviv where she's the Israel Correspondent of  The Christian Science Monitor and a creator of the podcast Groundwork, about activists working in Israel and Palestine. She was formerly the opinion editor of Haaretz English.

Views and positions expressed here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily represent NJN's views and policy positions.