Previously we discussed a BBC News website ‘live page’ devoted to the topic of the latest report from The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).
BBC COVERAGE OF THE IPC GAZA CITY FAMINE REPORT – PART ONE
Additional BBC News website reporting on that topic published on August 22nd began with the following item:
“Famine in Gaza City is ‘failure of humanity’, UN chief says” by Tom Bennett (originally titled “Famine confirmed in Gaza City for first time, UN-backed report says”)
“The United Nations chief has described the famine confirmed in Gaza City and its surrounding areas as a “failure of humanity”. […]
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) says more than half a million people across Gaza are facing “catastrophic” conditions characterised by “starvation, destitution and death”. […]
The IPC says that an “immediate, at-scale response” is needed or there will be an “unacceptable escalation” in famine-related deaths.
It predicts that between mid-August and the end of September, famine will expand across the strip to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.”
Notably, Bennett has nothing to tell BBC audiences about the criticisms of the methodology behind the IPC’s report, stating only:
“The report was labelled an “outright lie” by Israel, which has denied there is starvation in the territory.”
Bennett did however find it appropriate to promote false allegations concerning the ‘restriction’ of aid and a problematic BBC report from August 14th:
“The UN says Israel is continuing to restrict the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel also denies.
Its denials are in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, multiple UN bodies, and several of Israel’s allies, including the UK, have said.”
Bennett tells readers that:
“Since the start of the war, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has reported that 271 people have died of malnutrition – including 112 children.”
He however fails to provide BBC audiences with any information which would enable them to put those figures into their appropriate context or understand what they mean in terms of a “famine confirmed in Gaza City”.
Bennett goes on to promote false claims from no fewer that four UN officials. [emphasis added]
“In response to the report, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the famine was entirely preventable, saying food could not get through to the Palestinian territory “because of systematic obstruction by Israel“.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: “Just when it seems there are no words left to describe the living hell in Gaza, a new one has been added: ‘famine’.”
He described it as “not a mystery,” but rather “a man-made disaster, a moral indictment, and a failure of humanity itself”.
He added that Israel has “unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population”.
Phillipe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), said: “This is starvation by design & man-made by the Government of Israel“.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk described the famine as “the direct result of actions taken by the Israeli Government”, which has “unlawfully restricted” the entry of aid.”
BBC audiences are of course told nothing about Tom Fletcher’s record of inaccurate claims, the fact that Israel has no obligation to actively provide humanitarian aid to the civilian population in Gaza, UNRWA’s employment of Hamas members or the UN human rights body’s chronic anti-Israel stance before Bennett adds another false claim to the pot:
“UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy described the famine as a “moral outrage”.
“The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe,” he wrote on X.”
A link to Bennett’s report appears in another one that he co-wrote on August 22nd, along with a link to that same problematic BBC report from August 14th:
“‘My youngest child doesn’t know what fruit tastes like’: Gaza residents on famine” by Tom Bennett and Rushdi Abualouf, with “Additional reporting by Freya Scott-Turner and Caroline Hawley”
“Residents of the Gaza Strip have described to the BBC the effects of severe hunger on their bodies, after a UN-backed report confirmed famine in parts of the territory for the first time. […]
The UN says Israel has heavily restricted the amount of aid entering Gaza, which Israel denies.
Israel also denies there is starvation in the territory, in direct contradiction to what more than 100 humanitarian groups, witnesses on the ground, and multiple UN bodies say.”
Bennett and Abualouf promote casualty figures which they fail to clarify are sourced from Hamas.
“More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign, in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.”
As in Bennett’s first report, they also fail to explain the meaning of Hamas-supplied figures concerning alleged deaths from “famine and malnutrition”.
“Since the start of the war, at least 271 people, including 112 children, have died of “famine and malnutrition”, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.”
Both those written reports include quotes from women in the Gaza Strip, one of whom was also featured in a filmed report.
“Gaza mother blames famine for halving daughter’s weight” by Yolande Knell
“A mother has told the BBC her five-year-old daughter has lost almost half of her body weight due to the famine in Gaza City.
Lamia Hijjeh, whose family has been displaced several times during the war, has lost 8.5kg and cannot walk, according to her mother Rida.
On Friday, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) raised its classification to Phase 5, the highest and worst level of its acute food insecurity scale.
It says famine is confirmed in the Gaza Governorate, which includes Gaza City and its surrounding area, with “catastrophic conditions” projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis by the end of September.
Israel has denied there was starvation in Gaza and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the IPC report as an “outright lie”.”
The synopsis to that report directs BBC audiences to the August 22nd live page discussed earlier.
The fifth item relating to the topic of the IPC report published on the BBC News website on August 22nd reveals its bias already in its headline:
“How Israel’s policies created famine in Gaza” by Emir Nader
Once again readers are told about “deaths from malnutrition” without any explanation of the meaning of those numbers and in this case, without a timeframe.
“The report was published as Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry recorded two new deaths from malnutrition, bringing the total number to 273 deaths, including 112 children.”
Nader turns the documented failure of UN agencies to collect aid from the crossings and distribute it effectively into an Israeli claim:
“Israel has accused international aid agencies like the UN of not picking up aid waiting at Gaza’s border, pointing to the hundreds of trucks sitting idle.”
He goes on to promote a link to a BBC report from July which was one of several that failed to clarify that the featured child in fact suffers from cerebral palsy. Coincidentally or not, Hamas used an image of the same child in its own promotion of the IPC report.
“After weeks of the world seeing images of starving children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will feel like the signs that a famine was imminent were a long time coming.”
BBC AGAIN FAILS TO PROVIDE CONTEXT TO ‘STARVING GAZA BABY’ PHOTOS
Failing to explain that the only “restrictions on goods entering Gaza” before the war related to dual-use items that could be exploited for the purpose of terrorism, Nader states:
“Israel has long placed restrictions on goods entering Gaza, and those restrictions increased after the beginning of the war on 7 October 2023, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel.
However, since March 2025, the situation has deteriorated rapidly after Israel introduced a nearly three-month total blockade on goods entering Gaza.”
Nader however refrains from clarifying that prior to the halt in aid entering the Gaza Strip between March 2nd and May 19th 2025, significantly elevated amounts had been supplied.
Linking to the same August 14th report that was promoted in the above two written reports, he goes on to erroneously portray the American non-profit organisation called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as having been “introduced” by Israel.
“Under significant international pressure, Israel began allowing a limited amount of goods back into Gaza in late-May.
It also introduced a new system of food distribution operated by a controversial American group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace the previous UN-led system of food distribution.”
In line with the BBC’s chosen framing that began even before the GHF had commenced operations, Nader devotes the next five paragraphs to the promotion of a narrative concerning the GHF that includes a repeat of the misleading “400 distribution points” claim.
“The GHF has four food distribution sites in militarised zones that Palestinians must walk long distances at risk to reach, replacing the 400 distribution points in the community under the UN’s system.
Finding food has become a deadly endeavour for Palestinians and they have regularly told us that they have to choose between starvation and death, referring to the near-daily shootings of people trying to get aid at GHF distribution sites.
The United Nations has recorded the killing of at least 994 Palestinians in the vicinity of GHF sites, since late May, some of the 1,760 killed trying to access aid.
The UN says the majority killed were shot by Israeli troops, something corroborated by eye-witnesses we have spoken to and medics in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected the allegations.
Under this system, overseen by Israel, starvation in Gaza has expanded.”
Nader goes on to raise the issue of the price of food in markets in the Gaza Strip. Notably, he fails to clarify that the non-commercial aid entering the territory is supposed to be distributed free of charge and that such food only reaches markets if it is stolen by Hamas or other actors.
“More aid has entered in recent weeks and the astronomical prices of some goods in the markets reduced somewhat – though for many Palestinians, prohibitively expensive. At times the price of flour reached above $85 for a kilo, though that figure began to reduce.”
As has been the case in previous BBC content, Nader parrots the “600 trucks a day” narrative along with allegations of “impediments and obstructions” which do nothing to inform readers about the safety and security considerations involved.
“The UN and aid organisations say that despite Israel loosening some of its restrictions on food getting into the Gaza Strip, it still places significant impediments and obstructions in being able to collect and distribute aid.
The organisations say what’s needed is 600 trucks a day bringing goods into Gaza for people to meet their basic needs – currently no more than half of that is being allowed in.”
Nader promotes the now standard BBC narrative concerning airdrops before citing a dubious USAID report that was used by some media organisations to promote the fiction that Hamas has not been stealing aid.
“Israel also began allowing airdrops of aid, something criticised as inefficient, dangerous, and ultimately a distraction by humanitarian organisations.
Israel’s accusation that Hamas is responsible for the hunger crisis has also been criticised. Multiple reports, including an internal US government report, found there is no evidence of systematic diversion of aid by Hamas.
There is indeed widespread looting of trucks entering Gaza – but aid agencies say most of the looting is by crowds of desperate Palestinians and some organised groups trying to make a resale profit.”
Nader’s report includes a section headed “Israel’s response” but as in the rest of the BBC’s reporting, audiences are not provided with links to the statements from COGAT or the MFA, meaning that they have to make do with Nader’s own selective interpretations. As in Bennett’s report, readers do however find misleading quotes from assorted UN officials – including a repetition of erroneous claims concerning Israel’s “obligations” – and the UK government’s foreign secretary.
“The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that Israel, as the occupying power, “has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population. We cannot allow this situation to continue with impunity”.
The UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said the famine was the direct result of Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid entering Gaza.
Meanwhile the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “The Israeli government’s refusal to allow sufficient aid into Gaza has caused this man-made catastrophe. This is a moral outrage.”
On Friday, the UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said it was “a war crime to use starvation as a method of warfare, and the resulting deaths may also amount to the war crime of wilful killing”.”
Under the heading “Gaza City invasion”, Nader tells BBC audiences that:
“A joint statement from a number of UN organisations including Unicef, the World Food Programme and the World Health Organization expressed alarm about the planned offensive, saying “it would have further devastating consequences for civilians where famine conditions already exist.”
He does not however clarify to readers that all those three “UN organisations” are partners at the IPC and has no comment on the connection between the timing of the release of the IPC’s report and the opposition of those organisations and others to military operations in Gaza City.
The five repetitive items of BBC News website content that appeared on the day that the IPC’s latest report was published all fail to provide BBC audiences with the full range of information needed to understand this story, not least because not even one of them provides links to the relevant statements from COGAT and the MFA.
Not one of those five items, for example, adequately explains the effect of the failure of UN agencies to efficiently distribute aid already in the Gaza Strip for weeks on end on the issue of food security. Not one of those items properly addresses the issues of the theft of aid meant to be distributed free of charge, black-market profiteering by Gazans themselves or the threats from Hamas against people using the GHF aid distribution sites.
All five items do however uncritically promote quotes and allegations from assorted UN agencies, NGOs and politicians that support the framing chosen by the BBC on this particular subject matter as well as existing chosen framing on other topics.
As has been the case with far too much of the BBC’s coverage over the past 22 months, the failure to report this story fully, accurately and impartially demonstrates once more that the corporation long since abandoned basic journalistic practices such as fact checking or questioning the claims and motives of powerful organisations such as the UN and ‘humanitarian’ NGOs because – sadly for the BBC’s funding public – any journalism now takes second place to Israel blaming socio-political activism.
Related
BBC NEWS PROMOTES ANOTHER NGO CAMPAIGN BUT FAILS TO TELL ALL
BEHIND THE BBC’S ‘400 AID DISTRIBUTION POINTS’ NARRATIVE
BBC VERIFY TRIES TO PROP UP A CHOSEN NARRATIVE
BBC DOES ‘RINSE AND REPEAT’ FRAMING OF GAZA AID AIRDROPS
HOW BBC FRAMING OF THE GHF TOES THE UN LINE
BBC AGAIN FAILS TO PROVIDE CONTEXT TO ‘STARVING GAZA BABY’ PHOTOS
