From the Liveblog of
Sunday, August 24, 2025
Israel says emaciated boy on Mirror front page confirmed to have genetic illness
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleStav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) confirms in a statement that the seemingly emaciated Gazan child featured on the front page of yesterday’s Daily Mirror is 3-year-old Kareem Muammar, who suffers from Fanconi syndrome, a hereditary disease that causes muscle and urinary tract weakness and has also affected other family members.
Saturday's front page: stop starving Gaza kids#TomorrowsPapersTodayhttps://t.co/zz83wtSZbO pic.twitter.com/8gnn40fFyt
— The Mirror (@DailyMirror) August 22, 2025
Pre-war medical documents published alongside the statement appear to confirm Muammar’s diagnosis, with the agency stressing that his illness predates the war.
The Mirror cover, published under the headline “Stop Starving Gaza’s Kids,” echoes Hamas’s forced starvation narrative, COGAT asserts.
In the statement, COGAT accuses Hamas of spreading false narratives as part of a propaganda campaign and criticizes international media for amplifying those claims without proper verification.
In recent weeks, similar cases have surfaced in which images of Gazan children with chronic illnesses appeared to show severe malnutrition. While their pre-existing conditions may explain their emaciated appearances, experts caution that food shortages can worsen underlying illnesses and hasten decline.
The Times of Israel Community.