On 23 July 2025, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer answered media questions about Gaza humanitarian aid. A recording was published on YouTube. However the video reproduced the whole emission five times over, as you will hear if you listen the the above audio recording taken from the video. You can listen by clicking on the white arrow.

You can read a transcription of his words below which we have then edited to delete four of the repetitions. Note we have used any2text.com to produce the transcription and cannot guarantee it is entirely accurate. We advise you to compare it to the audio recording above.

Transcription

Day 656 since the October 7th atrocities. Please put your questions in the chat of this Zoom. Remember to put them to the Prime Minister’s office directly, not a general track directly. And then after this short briefing, we’ll get to your questions.

We open today with profound sorrow, carrying the weight of heartbreaking news, the loss of courageous Israeli soldiers. Since the start of this war, 895 IDF heroes have fallen. These are not just numbers. These are not just statistics. Each was a life of promise, a future cut short, an entire world unto themselves.

Staff Sergeant Amit Cohen was just 19 years old and from Holon. He fell in battle in southern Gaza.

And Sergeant Major in the Reserves, Vladimir Loza, was 36 years old and from Ashkelon. He too fell in battle in southern Gaza. The Prime Minister sent heartfelt condolences to the families of Staff Sergeant Amit Cohen and Sergeant Major Vladimir Loza. The Prime Minister said that Amit and Vladimir had fought bravely to safeguard Israel’s security. He said that together with the entire nation,

We mourn their loss and embrace their beloved families. We also pray for the full recovery of those wounded in these difficult incidents on the battlefield. May the memory of our heroes be blessed and cherished forever.

Next to the humanitarian situation in Gaza, let me start with the facts and not the fiction. In Gaza today, there is no famine caused by Israel. There is, however, a man-made shortage engineered by Hamas. Now, too often, the full story is not being told. This suffering exists because Hamas has created it. The suffering exists because Hamas has made it so.

So here are the facts. Aid has been flowing into Gaza through two main channels. Firstly, through weekly food packages distributed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, GHF, and secondly, through UN-coordinated shipments of raw materials for bakeries and communal kitchens. Israel facilitates this aid to ensure the aid reaches civilians directly without being intercepted by the terrorist organization.

Now, these trucks carry food, they carry medicine, essential goods and medical equipment are entering continuously, including medical teams from international organizations, which continue to enter as well. Now, let’s look at the scale of these trucks going in. I can share with you that COGAT, the body responsible for getting aid in, has between the 19th and the 22nd of July. That’s between Saturday, just gone, and Tuesday.

More than 4,400, that’s 4,400 A-trucks have entered Gaza. And in the coming week, an additional significant volume of additional trucks will also enter. Now, on board these trucks have been food, of course, but also flour, baby food, 2,500 tonnes of it, and high-calorie nutrition for children.

The American Aid Foundation, GHF, is providing essential assistance delivered directly to Gazans through its distribution centers. Just yesterday, GHF distributed more than 2 million meals to Gazans. That’s 2 million meals distributed to Gazans in one day. And there were no unusual incidences. Now, since it began operations at the end of May, 1.4 million aid packages have been distributed by GHF,

And that means that 87 million meals have been distributed by GHF in total. Now, we have asked the United Nations to stop opposing this activity and for the good of Gazans to work together so that it can continue safely.

Hamas, on the other hand, has stepped up its efforts to prevent direct distribution of this food and aid to Gazans, and this is further proof of Hamas’s cruelty. It systematically endangers Gaza’s residents, loots aid trucks, and tries to disrupt the functioning of food distribution centres, deliberately placing Gazans at risk of hunger. Now, next, this is very, very important. As things stand right now, and I confirmed this in the last hour, there are more than 700 A-trucks, 700 A-trucks for the United Nations to pick up inside of Gaza. That means they’ve gone through security and they are waiting on the Gazan side of the border. Now, this is a bottleneck which has been caused by the United Nations.

And it’s the main obstacle to maintaining a consistent flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Now, just today, Israel’s foreign ministry has said that the United Nations’ obsession against Israel is unfortunately more important to them than helping the people of Gaza. Next, in terms of IDF action against Hamas, I can share with you in the last 24 hours, our air force has struck more than 120 terror targets across Gaza, as well as terrorists and infrastructure destroyed by our ground forces. Since the start of this Operation Gideon’s Chariots, the IDS have eliminated about 1,500 terrorists. 1,500 terrorists have been eliminated, taken off the battlefield by our armed forces.

Israel has also held territory across Gaza to ensure it stays free of Hamas and also destroyed military buildings, sniper and observation posts, tunnels, weapons and also other terror assets. Hamas is being systematically dismantled, both above ground and below it. Finally, before we get to your questions, on Syria where over the last few days we saw appalling attacks by Bedouin and Syrian forces on the Druze in Syria. These have been truly terrible, shocking, barbaric attacks. Look, I can tell you, as you probably know, the Druze are our brothers. Let me make this clear. The State of Israel will not allow harm to the Druze in Syria and we will continue to protect them from the new Syrian regime forces

And I can share with you as well that today the IDF reactivated the mobile forward facility for triage and hospital treatment of the wounded in the area of Qadar village in southern Syria. And that’s to provide medical care to the Syrian Druze population in that area. And we will continue to extremely closely monitor developments in the area with particular focus on the actions against the Druze civilians.

OK, so that’s the end of our briefing here today. Now please put your questions in the chat together with your name and your news outlet and we’ll take your questions. I can already see there’s six questions I can see here already. Remember to put your news outlet and your name. OK, first question I can see here is from Joel Pollock at Breitbart News.

And your question is, can you comment on the 109 aid organizations calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, citing starvation without mentioning the hostages? And also, a second question, which I’ll get to in a moment. Your first question, Joel, was about the aid organizations calling for a ceasefire, citing starvation without mentioning the hostages. Thank you for your question, Joel. Look, when it comes to hunger in Gaza, firstly, there’s a couple of points to make here.

This idea of famine and starvation has been thrown at us consistently on a weekly basis for the last two years now. It has never come to far pass. So these are false warnings which come from these aid organizations. And I also would say that where there is hunger in Gaza, it is hunger orchestrated by Hamas. This is very clearly their tactic and it is working because Hamas seeks to put international pressure, which unfortunately too many international countries are too willing to follow suit on, to put pressure on Israel to support their negotiating tactics, stopping them initiating or agreeing to a hostage release pause. So this pressure which is coming, talking about starvation and famine, this is simply playing into Hamas’s hands. Where there is hunger, it is hunger orchestrated by Hamas. It is hunger created by the terrorist organization, which means that it is even more important that of course our hostages are released but also that Hamas is no longer in control in Gaza to free the people of Gaza from the appalling treatment which they are receiving.

They are starving their own people. Hamas are restricting food from their own people and media, and I think this is true, across too many outlets are not reporting. They’re reporting up to a point that there are problems of hunger in Gaza, but there are problems caused by Hamas. That final part of that sentence doesn’t seem to have made it through.

Okay, next question from Joel Pollack, Breitbart News. Is Israel experiencing a crisis in relations with Christian communities over the church in Gaza, settle of violence, visas for evangelicals? Okay, well thank you for that question, Joel. Look,

Israel’s relations with Christian communities is extremely important in stream extremely important in this country I myself sat on a roundtable Inside Washington DC in February where the prime minister met leaders of the evangelical community. They are an extremely important Ally to Israel we take them extremely seriously. We are of course Christianity is a is a younger brother of Judaism in a certain sense and we take that relationship extremely seriously. There is no crisis. Where there is a crisis is that the pro-Hamas movement are trying to engineer a crisis. This is purely an engineered crisis. We take our relationship with the Christian community extremely seriously. Israel is the only country where the number of Christians are increasing. It’s the only country in hundreds of miles in any direction where Christians are free to practice their faith freely, freely without restrictions. Of course where there are issues on an individual basis then they are condemned and they are and they should be and more can always be done in that sense.

But this country takes our relationship with the Christian community extremely importantly, and that will continue to be the case under this government. And finally, you’ve got a question there, just one more, just go up there. You’re asking for comment on Ozzy Osbourne, who supported Israel. We, of course, from the State of Israel, send our condolences to the family of Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away recently.

Next question, please. It’s Jody Cohen at Newsmax. What more can you tell us about the conversations between Steve Witkoff and Israeli officials regarding ceasefire and hostage release negotiations? Is more pressure being placed on Hamas to agree to a deal? And what will be the next steps if Hamas doesn’t agree? Thank you for that question, Jody.

Look, the Hamas terrorist organization continues, they continue to cling to its refusal and the latest information I can give you that Israel at this moment is still awaiting an official response via the mediators of Hamas. But to this point I can share with you that Hamas have continued to refuse, they are continuing to refuse the hostage return proposal which Israel has agreed to.

Consistently, Israel has agreed and Hamas have not agreed. Israel has agreed to the Qatari proposal and the updated Witkoff framework. It is Hamas, unfortunately, which persists in its refusal and they have been setting unacceptable conditions. So the Israeli negotiating team is still in Doha and these talks are continuing and they will continue because our objective is to get our hostages home.

As you know, in Gaza, there are 50 hostages still remaining, the living and those already murdered, cruelly abducted by the terrorist organization Hamas. Look, it’s 656 days now. That if the international… Our experts were saying that none of them would come home alive. 148 of them have come home alive. 57, unfortunately, came back deceased.

And we are extremely grateful to President Trump and Mr Witkoff for their steadfast support in our tireless effort to get our people home. They must be set free now, not tomorrow, not for another moment, right now. Our people must be set free right now.

Okay, next question from Yotam Konfino from the Daily Telegraph in the UK. There’s some confusion about NGOs and their work inside Gaza after the GHF began distributing aid. Are international NGOs allowed to distribute aid inside Gaza from their regular distribution points or are they only allowed to collect aid from the border crossings and then distribute from there?

Thank you for that question, Yotam. I think the precise answer to that question you probably should go to COGAT so they can give you the precise answer, but my understanding is that aid organizations, including United Nations agencies, can distribute the food and the aid, but they need to pick it up first.

No more excuses. No more trying to prolong this process. It is time for them to pick it up and stop blaming Israel for the bottlenecks which are occurring. There is hunger in Gaza. But if the authorities and journalists are being allowed to leave, okay, that’s a question for the IDF. Alon, I would encourage you to put that question directly to the IDF. A question from ITV News. You’re asking me about hunger in Gaza. I think I’ve already answered that question.

Laura Kelly, could you just share with me from the Hill, okay, from the Hill, what conditions, terms are being discussed in the US-coordinated meeting between Israeli and Syrian officials? Thank you very much for relations with all of our neighbours, including Syria, but we have made crystal clear that Syrian forces cannot come south of Damascus, that’s extremely clear, and we will protect the rights of Christian communities as well as Jewish communities which exist in Syria. That should be the objective and it’s already been said by the new Syrian leadership and it has to be not just said but it has to become true because the current activity and the current awful, awful attacks on Druze civilians has shown that unfortunately it is just words and not reality and action.

And you’re saying that the UN has numerous times said that those of its trucks allowed into Gaza, it has been unable to get Israeli coordination to guarantee safe passage from the border crossing to distribution point. Does Israel provide safe passage to aid trucks from Gaza’s internal border to the UN and UN-affiliated distribution centers? Thank you for that question, Louis. I think I’ve already addressed those points in my briefing.

And I’ve said that there are 700 aid trucks full of food, laden with food, which would be of great help to alleviate what suffering, what Hamas-caused suffering there is in Gaza. And they should be picked up as soon as possible. That’s what the IDF has said. That’s what COGAT has said. And I think for more information, you should probably go to COGAT.

Next question here. We haven’t missed one, have we? No? Okay, next question here from James Marlow, an independent journalist. Is Israel concerned about Hamas hijacking 700 aid trucks waiting to be picked up by UN representatives on the Gazan side? And can you say exactly where exactly the aid on the Gazan side is? Thank you for that question, James. I would say to you that for precise information about that aid,

I would ask Kogat. Kogat and the IDF have already put out information about those 700 trucks. Yes, the issue of looting of aid is extremely important. I would just remind you that we’re in this problem now. Where there are problems, where there are problems of hunger inside Gaza, it is because Hamas is restricting the aid. They are taking the aid for themselves. In fact, the IDF just this morning, and I would encourage you to take a look at that, have released footage of captured tunnels full of aid. Aid which belongs to the people has been taken by the terrorist organization. So it is precisely to cut out Hamas, the terrorist organization, from the aid distribution process that the GHF, the American initiative, has been established and that is our objective to remove Hamas from this equation. Hamas hijacks the aid. They charge their own people. This is aid which is supposed to go to Gazans for free. It is their right to get it for free. Gazans are taxing that aid. They are selling it to merchants and selling it to Gaza’s people for exorbitant prices. And they’re using the money to pay for their terrorist fighters. And this seems to be the last leg which Hamas is standing on, which is why it is so important to cut Hamas out of the distribution process.

Okay, next question here. I’ll take another couple of questions. It’s from HPJE and that is from a Danish newspaper. You’ll forgive me if I don’t try to pronounce your publication.

Heidi, can you comment on what Israel’s goal is currently for Gaza when you have eradicated Hamas? Who will control the enclave? Thank you for this question, Heidi.

President Trump has come up with an innovative plan for the future of Gaza. People that want to leave voluntarily, we make this clear, voluntarily should be allowed to leave. There are countries which have already expressed their interest to take in so they can get away from the fighting. The reason this war has taken so long is precisely because Hamas designed this war so that they could hide amongst civilians. So the President has made this plan clear. We think it’s a good idea. We think it’s an out-of-the-box idea. You know, the idea of just

Repeating failed initiatives as we have in the past, for instance, letting the Palestinian Authority run Gaza, that’s already shown to be a failure inside Judea and Samaria, where unfortunately the Palestinian Authority continues its policy, its pay to slay policy, paying for the families or rewarding terrorists for killing Israelis. We will not have a situation where there is any authority in Gaza which seeks to kill Jews and Israelis. That is simply not an option.

So post October the 7th, after the appalling attacks and after fighting Hamas for these last almost two years, we will not live with a situation where our neighbor seeks our destruction. So you can take that from me that there is no scenario where Gaza is run by any sort of organization which seeks our destruction.

It should be run by an organization of people that want Garsens to succeed, to reach their potential for a better future for all of our people in this area. And this is the last question now.

Okay, fun question from David Clement at the News Forum in Canada. Reports that the Shin Bet have arrested a woman who was going to attempt to assassinate the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister have any comment? Does the Prime Minister’s office have any comment on that? I haven’t got anything to share with you on that. And is there any response to Canada signing a letter calling for Israel’s aid distribution dangerous and calling for an end to war?

Thank you for that question, David. Yes, indeed, Canada was one of the 25 countries or 26 countries which signed that declaration. Look, David, I will say to you this simple point. Who welcomed that declaration? Hamas welcomed it. Now, look, Canada and the other countries that signed this declaration, just be aware of this one fact.

Hamas welcomed your declaration. That means you’re on the wrong side of history. It means you’re on the wrong side of the argument. And if Hamas, if you would instead encourage Hamas to let our hostages go, to free our people and lay down its arms, then this entire war would be over in an instant. Okay, so that’s the last question here today. We’ll have another briefing again shortly. Thank you for joining us.

And in the meantime, please do stay safe and we’ll see you next time. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.