On September 20, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) – an arm of the Israel’s Defense Ministry responsible for implementing government policies – accused Hamas of directly firing at UN teams via social media. They were preparing a new route for aid trucks from the Israel-Gaza Kerem Shalom crossing to the so called ‘humanitarian zone’ in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Israel’s COGAT making baseless smears on social media – nothing new

COGAT claimed the supposed new road is:

part of the humanitarian component of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II.

It was scheduled to open in a few days, to increase the number of aid trucks providing:

food, medical supplies, tents and shelter equipment for families who fled Gaza City and moved south for safety.

Once the gunmen supposedly forced the UN out, they were then said to have used a stolen UN vehicle to erect a sand barricade to prevent future aid deliveries.

Ghassan Alian, head of COGAT, who has played a role in the occupation’s atrocities in Gaza and said, in 2023, that “human animals must be treated as such”, took to social media saying:

Hamas proves again and again it has no interest in the welfare of Gaza’s residents…..Even when Israel works with the UN and international groups to expand humanitarian aid, Hamas desperately tries to sabotage it.

Alian vowed that Israel would:

not allow Hamas to create false narratives of a crisis in Gaza.

As evidence of Hamas firing at UN teams, COGAT published the following photograph:

This supposed incident was reported by Israeli publication Ynet, with the headline: Hamas fires on UN team, steals baby formula in Gaza: ‘Trying to create crisis narrative’.

Systematic misinformation campaign

In response to these accusations, Hamas issued a statement of its own, denying the allegations against it, claiming they are:

entirely baseless and are part of a systematic campaign of misinformation aimed at distorting the facts and reversing the narrative.

It said it holds the Israeli occupation:

fully responsible for obstructing humanitarian work and manufacturing security chaos.

Hamas has long been calling for the full, unhindered access of UN agencies such as UNRWA, to carry out their duties, but instead, the Israeli occupation continues to obstruct aid deliveries, imposes severe restrictions on the work of the UN, bombs its facilities and warehouses, and deliberately targets humanitarian workers.

Multiple reports and investigations, including from Amnesty International, indicate that the Israeli occupation, not Hamas, deliberately uses starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians in Gaza. Not only does it control and restrict humanitarian aid, and “routinely opens fire on starving Palestinian civilians”, but the occupation is also intentionally bringing about social collapse, by supporting and protecting armed criminal gangs which create chaos and insecurity by looting aid warehouses and attacking convoys.

This results in food being diverted from starving Palestinians, and resold in the markets at prices beyond the reach of almost all of the population, fueling violence and corruption. At the same time, the Israeli occupation prevents and targets government security personnel when they attempt to protect these convoys.

While analysis of aid theft incidents reported between 2023 and 2025 found no credible evidence that Hamas was systematically stealing or diverting humanitarian aid, Ynet’s accusation that Hamas was ‘trying to create a crisis narrative’, is yet another example of the occupation’s denial of famine and food scarcity in Gaza, a false narrative which the occupation has supported by extensive propaganda efforts.

Multimillion pound campaign attempts to stop criticism from Western countries

Recently launching a campaign on social media to discredit UN famine reports and humanitarian organisations, the occupation has denied there is any famine in Gaza, showing a video with busy restaurants and markets full of fruit and vegetables with the message:

There is no famine in Gaza. Any other claim is a lie.

This is part of a million pound effort involving Google, YouTube, X, and others, in which the Israeli occupation denies the UN’s famine declarations in Gaza, and its own involvement in crimes against humanity and war crimes taking place in the Gaza Strip.

The video – which does not reflect the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, where hundreds of thousands face severe malnutrition and food insecurity – along with other advertisements, have reached millions through paid promotion, and aimed to counter international criticism in parts of Europe and North America. But the goods shown in the images are unaffordable for the vast majority of Gazans, most of whom either have no money, or are struggling hugely in a situation where withdrawal fees can reach 50% and banknotes are often refused by businesses.

 

Shameless Israel social media campaign to deny reality of its continued war crimes

This social media campaign is being used by Israel to deny the lived reality which it has intentionally created, of the mass starvation of the civilian population, brought on through blockades and military force, while it openly advocates the cutting off of food and water to Gaza.

The so called ‘humanitarian safe zone’ in the south has been bombed more than 100 times, and has no essential services, hygiene facilities, water or food supplies. According to human rights organisations, the displacement of Palestinians into this area amounts to forcible transfer, with the aim of eventually ethnically cleansing Gaza of its Palestinian population.

Between October 7 2023 and September 10 2025, 540 aid workers were killed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza, including 373 UN staff and team members, making this genocide in Gaza the most deadly conflict ever for UN staff. As of September 20 2025, 65,208 Palestinians have been killed and 166,271 injured.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

This post was originally published on Canary.