Members of the Knesset called for the systematic starvation of the residents of the Gaza Strip, including children, and for the denial of supplies of medicine and painkillers. This came during deliberations on the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip during a meeting held yesterday, Thursday, by a subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which deals with media and foreign relations.

During the meeting, Dr. Sharon Shaul, from the Natan organization, which works in humanitarian aid worldwide, said, "I believe that none of the people sitting around this table are concerned that a suffering child cannot receive painkillers or even minimal medical treatment."

MK Amit Halevi of the Likud party interrupted her, angrily saying, "I'm not sure you're speaking on our behalf that we want to treat every child and every woman, and I hope you don't support that statement," Haaretz reported of the committee discussion on Friday.

"I hope you, too, are not concerned that a four-year-old with an amputated hand should not receive pain medication, and I hope you have that compassion," the doctor insisted.

But MK Limor Son Har-Melech, from the Otzma Yehudit party, pointed her finger at the doctor and said, "The only treatment that should be given is to you," while another MK said, "You are the sickest doctor I have ever seen."

The newspaper quoted MK Moshe Tor-Paz of the Yesh Atid party as saying following the meeting, which he initiated, "As far as I know, the State of Israel does not intend to use starvation. I believe that even if there are non-combatants, there is nothing in the Jewish ethics that I know that allows for starving non-combatants, and my impression is that the Israeli government is not planning to starve Gaza."

The newspaper emphasized that Halevi and Son Har-Melech dominated the discussion in the committee, and that "many around the table certainly believed that torturing and starving Gazan children was not only legitimate but also desirable."

Shifra Tzur Aryeh, who identified herself as a resident of the "Gaza envelope," rebuked the Knesset members for even holding this discussion, shouting, "Who are you pitying?" and that "it is forbidden to pity Gazans."

Yizhar Lifshitz, whose father was killed on October 7 and taken to Gaza, said, "Even though there are almost no innocent people in Gaza, any moral person can understand that starving children is not something to brag about. There is a certain threshold we should not cross. Is seeing mothers holding their dead children in their arms what will bring the kidnapped people back to us?"

"This is terrible that you're bringing this up," Son Har Melch responded. "This is terrible, terrible, terrible that you're bringing up starvation terms while our children are being brutally slaughtered."

Participants in the meeting spoke about the threat of famine and the suffering of children in Gaza.

Statistics expert Arnon Houri-Yevin, who developed a model to calculate food quantities in Gaza based on Israeli military data, said that there is "an average of enough food in Gaza," but added that he has no doubt that "the weak and poor population in the Strip is suffering from severe malnutrition. According to the model, we are now in a situation where tens of thousands are either without food at all or have less than 300 calories per day."

Halevi responded in a rebuking tone, claiming, "No one is hungry in Gaza. It's a shame you keep repeating this lie. No one is missing anything." Son Har Melch claimed, "No one is starving. Stop repeating Hamas's lies."