Columnist Marc A. Thiessen argues that Israel is feeding Gaza in the middle of a war — something no nation has ever done — while Hamas uses suffering as a weapon.
A Washington Post op-ed by columnist Marc A. Thiessen is making waves with its blunt rejection of claims that Israel is deliberately starving Gaza. In his Tuesday piece, “Hunger in Gaza Has Many Authors — But Israel Isn’t One of Them,” Thiessen highlights that Israel has provided 1,829,520 meals to Gazans through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a figure he says is enough to feed nearly the entire population.
Thiessen frames Israel’s actions as unprecedented:
“Israel is doing something no nation has ever done, or even been expected to do: feed the population of the aggressor force that attacked it — while the war is still going on.”
Drawing a sharp historical comparison, he notes:
“The United States did not feed Germany and Japan while the war was going on; we forced their armies to surrender and then fed their populations.”
According to Thiessen, Hamas bears primary responsibility for Gaza’s suffering — not Israel. He accuses the terror group of making civilian hardship a central pillar of its survival strategy, deliberately ensuring suffering to gain sympathy and political leverage.
Thiessen contends that this strategy is working, pointing to sympathetic coverage in Western media and the diplomatic positions of countries like France, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Spain, and Norway, which have moved toward supporting a Palestinian state.
His conclusion is searing:
“To lay the blame for this situation at Israel’s feet, rather than on Hamas, requires a stunning level of moral blindness — which apparently is plentiful when it comes to what is happening in Gaza.”
