Israel slams ‘Daily Mirror’ for photo of ‘starving’ Gaza child with genetic disorder

The Israeli Foreign Ministry called out the Daily Mirror British tabloid on Sunday after it ran a front-page photo of a seemingly emaciated child who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that disrupts the absorption of essential nutrients under the headline, “Stop Starving Gaza’s Kids.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein accused the paper of manipulation by concealing this context from its readers on its Saturday cover.

“@DailyMirror stop spreading Hamas propaganda!” the spokesman wrote on X.

Marmorstein noted that X users flagged the image with a community note stating that the child, Kareem Muammar, suffers from Fanconi syndrome, “a rare genetic disorder that affects the liver, kidneys and intestines,” and harms nutrient absorption.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied allegations of starvation in Gaza, insisting that Israel allowed sufficient aid in throughout the war. Hamas has disrupted the flow of supplies and stolen them for themselves and resale to Gazans, and the United Nations has failed to properly distribute them, leading to deprivation.

The pushback against the British outlet follows a string of similar cases in which images of Gazan children with chronic illnesses who appeared to be suffering from severe malnutrition have appeared on the covers of newspapers around the globe.

The New York Times was widely criticized for running a front-page photo on July 25 of a “starving” Gaza boy who turned out to be suffering from cerebral palsy. The paper later buried a correction to the story.

Last week, international media outlets led by the BBC reported the death of a 20-year-old Gaza woman who was being treated in an Italian hospital, highlighting her malnutrition without mentioning her diagnosis of leukemia.