Israel’s Propagandists Cast Doubt on Case of Malnourished Gazan Girl

As Israel tightens its total blockade, Gaza's population moves closer to famine. As the crisis worsens, Israeli apologists attempt to downplay the Israeli weaponization of starvation in Gaza. Social media trolls recently questioned the case of a malnourished girl, accusing people in Gaza of spreading misinformation about famine.

65,000 Children Face Starvation as Israel Intensifies Gaza Siege

On Friday, the Gaza government warned that over 65,000 children face imminent death due to famine caused by Israel’s ongoing siege and blockade of essential supplies to the Strip.

The total closure, since March 2, has fueled a deliberate campaign of starvation targeting civilians.

“The Israeli occupation is engineering a famine that kills civilians and continues a systematic crime against 2.4 million people through closing crossings and blocking 39,000 aid trucks carrying food, fuel and medicine,” the Gaza Media Office said, accusing Israel of violating international law.

The statement revealed that all bakeries in Gaza have been shut down for 40 consecutive days, leaving the population without access to bread.

“Over 65,000 children now face starvation deaths from malnutrition as Israel weaponizes hunger against civilians,” the statement added.

The warning comes as U.N. officials sharply criticized Israel’s newly proposed humanitarian aid plan for Gaza, cautioning that it could worsen the crisis and fail to meet basic humanitarian standards.

Israeli Trolls Claim Gazans Lied About Malnourished Girl

In an effort to dismiss evidence of Israeli-inflicted starvation in Gaza, pro-Israel users have circulated two photos of a severely malnourished girl from Gaza, claiming that the photos were not taken in Gaza.

They accuse Palestinians of deceiving the media by using unrelated photos to fabricate the famine narrative.

Misbar’s team spotted multiple posts in English, Hebrew, German, and Italian that allege people in Gaza are misusing photos from other countries to blame Israel for the humanitarian catastrophe.

The publishers attempted to back their narrative using screenshots from Google Lens reverse image searches, which allegedly show that the photos are outdated.

For instance, an X user posted in Hebrew, claiming that the photo originated in Morocco in 2019.

Another propaganda account echoed the claim, stating, “The TRUTH: The picture was taken in Morocco in 2019 of a young girl who has a genetic disease, likely from birth.”

In addition, social media trolls circulated another photo of the same malnourished girl, this time alleging it shows an Iraqi child from 2017.

Photographer Confirms Photo’s Authenticity to Misbar

Misbar’s team traced the source of the widely circulated photo to Palestinian photographer Osama Kahlout, who uploaded it on his Instagram account.

According to the photo's caption, it shows a young girl in Gaza with an emaciated body caused by famine and the ongoing Israeli blockade, which continues to prevent the entry of medicine and humanitarian aid.

In addition to the photo, the photographer shared a video featuring the girl’s mother, who spoke about her child’s critical condition and urgent needs. She warned that her daughter is at serious risk of losing her life due to the lack of access to proper nutrition and medical care.

Photographer Osama Kahlout confirmed to Misbar that he captured both the photo and video of the girl, Dana al-Haj, in Deir al-Balah just days ago.

He told Misbar that Dana is severely malnourished, and during the shoot, her mother said that Dana could die unless she is urgently evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment.

Misbar Confirms Photos Were Shot Recently in Gaza

Contrary to the viral claim making the rounds, the photos of Dana are recent and were indeed taken in Gaza.

Misbar’s investigative team, experienced in digital verification, tested the same Google Lens tool used by those spreading disinformation and found that it frequently produces inaccurate results.

These errors stem from indexing issues within Google Lens. Clicking on the suggested sources on the tool may lead to entirely different photos.

Misbar’s team investigated the source of the first photo exploited by trolls and found that the Facebook user, “Marokkanisches Leben الحياة المغربية,” had indeed shared the photo of Dana three days ago, but with a caption that read, “The world’s monitor Gaza.”

This clearly indicates that the photo was referencing Gaza, not Morocco, and exposes the Google Lens result as incorrect.

Misbar’s team also searched within the same source referenced by the propagandists (shown on the right side), using the same caption, hashtags, and date listed in the Google Lens results. 

Misbar's investigation found that the caption appeared alongside a completely different photo (shown on the left side) in the Facebook account. This confirms that Google Lens often generates misleading matches.

Moreover, Misbar’s team investigated the second photo and confirmed it was taken recently in Gaza. Misbar's team examined the same source cited by trolls—the Al Manar Spanish website—using the same title and date referenced in the disinformation (on the right side).

The original article featured a different photo: a side-by-side photo of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi with Ayatollah Khamenei from 2017 (on the left side).

Trolls manipulated the Catalan-language title, which translates to “Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's fatwa that saved Iraq,” to falsely claim that the photo of Dana originated from Iraq.

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