An America-backed famine monitoring agency is rescinding a report alleging that Israel created a near-total blockade of humanitarian and commercial food supplies to Northern Gaza after the American Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, rebuffed the allegations as “inaccurate” and “irresponsible.”
The report, issued Monday by the U.S. Agency for International Development-backed Famine Early Warning Systems Network, claimed that Israel was furthering a “famine scenario” in North Gaza by blocking aid to between 65,000 and 75,000 civilians in the area.
However, just hours later, the American diplomat complained about the report, issuing a rare statement on X to say that the population estimates that served as “the basis of the report” were incorrect.
“The report issued today on Gaza by FEWS NET relies on data that is outdated and inaccurate,” Mr. Lew wrote on X. He noted that the actual civilian population in that part of Gaza is estimated to be between 7,000 and 15,000 — just a fraction of what is cited in the report.
“At a time when inaccurate information is causing confusion and accusations, it is irresponsible to issue a report like this. We work day and night with the UN and our Israeli partners to meet humanitarian needs — which are great — and relying on inaccurate data is irresponsible” he added.
By Tuesday night, the report had been removed from the group’s website. The agency told Jewish Insider that they had decided to take down the report “until further notice” in order to “address inaccuracies in the population data set.” It acknowledged that the report had “methodological limitations based on the availability of data.”
In the report itself, the agency conceded that its conclusions were not based on quantitative analysis, but rather, “on extrapolation, inference, empirical evidence, logic, and expert judgment.”
According to USAID, the agency chose to publish the data even after receiving notice that the population data was outdated. “After reviewing the alert, USAID urged inclusion of recent developments and population estimates,” the group told Jewish Insider. “When the alert was released without that consideration, USAID asked that it be made more accurate.”
The American envoy received praise from the Jewish community for his efforts to thwart false narratives about Israel’s actions in Gaza. While international agencies have placed blame on Israel for the lack of humanitarian aid in Gaza, Israel has criticized the United Nations for failing to deliver truckloads of aid that were allowed into the strip.
There is also well-documented evidence of armed Hamas militants stealing aid trucks and selling the goods to civilians at exorbitant prices to finance their terrorist activities. Channel 12 reported in September that Hamas had generated an estimated $500 million in profit from this scheme.
“The U.S. ambassador to Israel is exposing a U.S. agency for lying about humanitarian aid in northern Gaza — just one of thousands of false claims about Israel since Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack,” head of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Mark Dubowitz, wrote on X.
