Tel aviv: US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee linked the starvation in the Gaza Strip to Hamas' control and suggested weight-loss drug Ozempic instead of food.
According to Anadolu Agency, in an interview with British journalist Piers Morgan, Huckabee claimed the Palestinian group opposed the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) because its methods of delivering food "has really hurt their capacity to control the food market."
"They don't care about people getting to eat. They care that they eat," the US envoy stated. "None of them are hungry. I guarantee you. Look at their faces, look at their bodies ... instead of food they could use some Ozempic," he added, referring to the diabetic drug linked to weight loss.
Though Huckabee did not provide evidence for his claims, multiple observers, local authorities, and rights groups, such as the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, have accused Israeli forces of providing military cover for armed groups in Gaza that loot and resell aid on the black market.
UN experts recently called for the immediate dismantling of the GHF, warning that its operations are worsening the plight of Palestinians and violating international humanitarian law. The experts highlighted that Palestinians are "paying the ultimate price of the international community's legal, political and moral failure" as the death toll in Gaza exceeds 60,000, with over 90% of the population forcibly displaced.
The GHF, established by Israel in February with US backing, aims to distribute aid in Gaza. However, UN experts described it as "an utterly disturbing example of how humanitarian relief can be exploited for covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law."
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has criticized the GHF, labeling aid sites run by the US and Israeli-backed group in the Palestinian territory as scenes of "orchestrated killing." MSF urged immediate action, calling for the dismantling of the GHF, halting funding by states, restoring the UN-led coordination system, and lifting the siege on Gaza to enable safe, large-scale aid delivery.
Since the GHF began operations in late May, Israeli forces and foreign military contractors have reportedly opened fire on people seeking aid at its distribution sites. Nearly 1,400 people have been killed and over 4,000 injured while attempting to access food, including at least 859 fatalities around GHF facilities, according to the UN.