Key facts
- Refugees International president Jeremy Konyndyk disputes Israel's claims regarding malnutrition statistics in Gaza.
- Konyndyk argues that improved malnutrition rates are a result of Israel loosening aid restrictions, not a refutation of past famine conditions.
- He stated that Israel blocked aid into Gaza for a significant period in 2025 before allowing larger flows.
- A famine was declared in Gaza in late August 2025, with aid scaling up after a deal in September.
Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, has strongly refuted claims made by the Israeli government that improved malnutrition statistics in Gaza today somehow invalidate a famine declaration made a year ago. Konyndyk described these claims as "absurd on its face."
In a series of posts on the social media platform X, Konyndyk explained that malnutrition and starvation in Gaza have indeed abated since the famine was declared. He attributed this change to a clear cause-and-effect: Israel had been blocking aid for over six months last year, and only loosened its obstruction of food aid after the famine declaration. "This is not hard to understand," he wrote.