German Newspaper Investigative Report Backs Up Jerusalem Post Findings On Famine Reporting In Gaza

 Nadene Goldfoot                                        

The Süddeutsche Zeitung, published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of SZ is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and social-democrat. It is considered one of Germany's newspapers of record.

We in defense for Israel have been writing about this deceit of how the large TV stations have been duped by Hamas and have been showing these altered damning pictures blaming Israel for all the starvation in Gaza.  

Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung published an investigative report revealing how Hamas terrorists manipulate imagery (pictures) to shape international opinion. 

The report details how the group stages images of hunger and despair in Gaza, using professional photographers covering the war. While acknowledging the reality of severe food shortages in the Gaza Strip, the paper emphasized that many widely circulated images of emaciated children do not accurately reflect current conditions. Some of the photos are not from Gaza at all, while others feature children suffering from chronic illnesses unrelated to the war. (at least one that I have read about that has been used over and over again). One image obtained by the paper shows photographers directing Gazans to pose as though they were waiting in line for food. Other pictures I've seen in other places in Gaza do not attempt to show such conditions.  

Germany’s Journalists’ Association (DJV) also issued a warning to local media outlets about “manipulation attempts through professionally produced press photography.” [This doesn't mean that there aren't food shortages in Gaza and that civilians are not suffering from them. But it does prove that Hamas is manipulating photos and media reports to paint a much more dire picture in order to demonize Israel in sway world opinion against Israel and in line with the goals of Hamas. For the most part, Hamas is succeeding in a big way -- which is why spreading the truth, including this email, is so important.]   

Military personnel prepares humanitarian aid packages for Gaza before they are loaded into an aircraft, at a military airport in Cairo, Egypt, July 30, 2025.

(photo credit: Egyptian Ministry of Defense/Handout via REUTERS)

From IDF (Israel Defence Force-service) UN enabling Hamas through aid mismanagement in Gaza:  

In a closed-door briefing, Israeli defense officials accused UN agencies of legitimizing “false data” from Hamas and failing to protect the humanitarian aid system from systemic exploitation. 

“There is a huge gap between reality and what we see reported,” the official said, asserting that the famine narrative promoted by international media and humanitarian actors originated in a deliberate disinformation campaign launched by Hamas during hostage negotiations. “They’re succeeding. The UN legitimizes their claims.” According to the military, much of the data cited by international bodies originates from the Gaza Health Ministry, which the Israeli side considers a Hamas-controlled institution.

Resource:

israelAM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BCddeutsche_Zeitung

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-863410