Leaders of most countries and many organisations around the world reacted with horror on 22 August when the Famine Review Committee declared a famine in Gaza, stating that because of the blockade of Gaza by Israel, more than half a million people were trapped in famine, marked by widespread starvation, destitution and preventable deaths. These leaders demanded that Israel immediately lift its blockade and allow in urgently needed food, medicine and other life-saving supplies.

Leaders of many countries but not all.

As we previously reported, Israel itself vehemently denied the declaration as “lies” and “modern blood libel,” while its strongest ally, the United States, appeared to dismiss the declaration as part of a “false narrative of deliberate mass starvation” from Hamas.

On the 25 August, France 24 television broadcast a debate in which four speakers discussed what can be done to change this horrific situation. We show the debate in the video below.

The speakers were:

• Dr Alon Yakter, political scientist and Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science, Government, and International Relations at Tel Aviv University.
• Nomi Bar-Yaakov, International Peace Negotiator and Associate Fellow at the Global Fellowship Initiative at the Geneva Center for Security Policy.
• John Linden, Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace.
• Patrice Paoli, former French Ambassador to Lebanon

The debate was chaired by François Picard.