Netanyahu: Israel allowed in aid throughout war, ‘otherwise, there would be no Gazans’

Speaking at a Christian conference in Jerusalem hosted by adviser to US President Donald Trump and prominent evangelical pastor Paula White, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismisses claims that Israel is starving civilians in Gaza and praises the Christian-Israeli bond.

“There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza,” the premier tells participants at the event, saying Israel has “enabled the amount required by international law to come in,” and has delivered “1.9 million tons of aid since the beginning of the war” in October 2023.

Israel “enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war… Otherwise, there would be no Gazans,” he continues.

In response to growing international pressure last week, Netanyahu significantly expanded the amount of and the access points for humanitarian aid into Gaza — marking a dramatic shift from Israel’s previous policy since March.

Netanyahu blames Hamas for intercepting supplies and then “accusing Israel of not supplying it.”

He says that Israel’s decision to implement humanitarian pauses came after some “well-intended” agencies, as well as the United Nations, made “excuses” not to deliver aid behind combat zones, despite there having been “safe corridors.”

“So we’ve just announced that formally. Here are safe corridors, and the UN has no excuses left. No excuses left. Stop lying… Stop accusing Israel deliberately of this egregious falsehood.”

Netanyahu thanks evangelical supporters for standing with Israel against false allegations, saying, “We have an eighth front — the battle for truth. And I can think of no one who can carry this battle alongside with us… better than [our] many Christian friends.”

He warns that the Israeli-Christian alliance is “being challenged today by… Islamist fundamentalism that seeks to subjugate all Muslims that they view as infidels, eradicate the American, and obviously the Israeli, presence in the Middle East.”

Referencing joint US-Israel military efforts against Iran last month, Netanyahu declares, “We fight them together… We shall win it together. We have great faith in your faith and in our faith… We can win this war exactly as we win the seven-front war.”