A photo has gone around the world, but behind it lies the media propaganda apparatus serving Hamas
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In recent days, an image shocked the world: the photo of a malnourished Palestinian child, identified as Mohammed al-Matouq, presented by numerous international media outlets as irrefutable evidence of a massive famine in Gaza.
However, a detailed investigation by British journalist David Collier shows that this photograph, although real, has been used misleadingly to fuel an anti-Israel narrative.
The conflict has created enormous hardships for the civilian population, but he insists that the main parties responsible for these hardships are not Israel, but the terrorist organization Hamas.
They control the enclave with an iron fist, divert humanitarian aid, and prioritize war over the well-being of their own people.
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE IMAGE
Mohammed Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq was born on December 23, 2023, with severe congenital problems, including cerebral palsy and a probable genetic disorder.
Images of the whole family, without starvation
According to a medical report issued in May 2025 by the Basma Association for Relief, the child requires specialized care and constant medical supplements.
This crucial information was ignored by media outlets such as CNN, BBC, The Guardian, and The New York Times, which used the photo to reinforce the idea of an alleged widespread famine.
The image was initially published by Gazan photographer Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-Arini and picked up by the Turkish agency Anadolu, before going viral after appearing on the cover of the Daily Express on July 23, 2025.
Wider photographs show Mohammed's mother and older brother in good health, which disproves the narrative that the entire family is suffering from starvation.
Mohammed's case illustrates how Hamas and sympathetic media manipulate personal tragedies to fabricate a distorted image of reality.
It has even been claimed that the child's father died searching for food, when in reality he died on October 28, 2024, in Jabalia, amid clashes between Hamas and the IDF. It is not clear whether he was a civilian or a combatant, but his death was not related to a desperate search for food, as some reports suggested.
Collier denounces that many Western media outlets publish emotionally impactful stories without thoroughly verifying the facts, omitting essential information. Even the BBC interviewed Mohammed's mother without mentioning his medical condition, leading the public to believe that the malnutrition was solely the result of an alleged famine.
The difficult humanitarian situation in Gaza is undeniable, but it is irresponsible to blame Israel when Hamas has turned its own population into human shields, diverting resources and obstructing the distribution of international aid.
As Collier points out, UN agencies and certain NGOs have fallen into the trap of reinforcing Hamas's propaganda, instead of focusing on effective and transparent aid.
Mohammed's story should not be essentialized to attack Israel, but should serve as a reminder of how disinformation, combined with the cynicism of terrorist organizations, ultimately harms the real victims: Gazan civilians.
