The IDF’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, COGAT), reported today that their security officials and medical experts reviewed the claims of starvation: “The thorough review found a significant gap between the number of deaths attributed to malnutrition as reported by Hamas’s health ministry and the cases documented and published with full identifying details.” Further, the health ministry had reported “only” 66 deaths due to starvation from October 2023 to June 2025, but reported 133 such deaths in July 2025. “Despite the allegedly high death toll in July, Hamas’s health ministry did not release the identities of the deceased as it had done in the past.”
Before reading further, the stark reality is this: The difference between the first 21 months and the 22nd month, is that, according to COGAT’s own figures, the Israelis cut off all aid in March and April 2025, and then, when they knew that widespread malnutrition had set in, with starvation up ahead, in May they provided 65 trucks/day (barely 13% of the pre-malnutrition need level). And the vaunted GHF operation has provided zero baby formula. It takes overwhelming chutzpah to accuse the Gaza health ministry’s report of 4-5 starvation deaths/day as somehow inflating starvation numbers in July. Today’s report by COGAT should be revisited in a future Nuremberg trial.
That said, their “thorough review” apparently involved nothing more than going through social media to find reports—presumably first-hand—of death by starvation. Assumedly, COGAT failed to find 133 such deaths, hence the gap. Otherwise, they located two cases on social media where the victim had a pre-existing disease, citing that as evidence the health ministry is inflating the numbers. However, famine experts know that it is typical in the early stages of a hunger crisis, that those with pre-existing conditions succumb first.
COGAT’s argument: An “in-depth review of various platforms identified only a handful of actual cases. The case-by-case analysis of the published deaths shows that most of those allegedly dying from malnutrition had preexisting medical conditions that led to the deterioration of their health, unrelated to their nutritional status…. This indicates that the documented cases do not represent the condition of the general population in the Gaza Strip but rather selectively present extreme cases involving preexisting illnesses.” Then it identifies two cases of deaths of victims who had pre-existing conditions.
Finally, it adds that the review also analyzed “broader photographic evidence and other available intelligence” and “concluded that there are no signs of a widespread malnutrition phenomenon among the population in Gaza.” COGAT did not release the full review to the public.
