Starvation as a Weapon: Chris Hedges on Gaza
The Intercept Briefing
The Intercept
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 July 2025
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
More than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food have been killed by Israeli forces in just the last few months, according to the United Nations. Israel’s blockade on aid, ongoing bombardment, and the dismantling of independent relief efforts have pushed Gaza to the brink of mass famine. At least 600,000 people are suffering from severe malnutrition, and aid groups warn of a manufactured humanitarian catastrophe.
“It's not about the distribution of food, it's not about humanitarian aid. It's about creating — luring Palestinians who are desperate into the south, putting them into a closed military zone,” says Chris Hedges, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and former Middle East bureau chief for the New York Times.
This week on The Intercept Briefing, host Jordan Uhl speaks with Hedges about how we got here and what’s at stake. Hedges spent seven years covering the conflict between Israel and the Palestine, much of that time in Gaza. He’s the author of 14 books, the most recent being “The Greatest Evil Is War” and “A Genocide Foretold.”
Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.
You can support our work at theintercept.com/join. Your donation, no matter the amount, makes a real difference.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Intercept Briefing. I'm Jordan Yule. |
| 0:06.0 | More than 1,000 Palestinians seeking food have been killed by Israeli forces in just the last few months, according to the UN. |
| 0:15.0 | And as Israel's military operations ramp up, hunger is at an all-time high. |
| 0:20.0 | At least 10 people have died from starvation in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours. |
| 0:27.1 | This is what death by forced starvation looks like. |
| 0:31.9 | Famine has persisted throughout the war. |
| 0:34.5 | But in March, the crisis deepened as Israel imposed a blockade to aid, |
| 0:40.0 | broke its ceasefire with Hamas, and resumed airstrikes on Gaza. By May, a newly formed |
| 0:45.8 | U.S. Contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, had taken over most aid distribution after Israel |
| 0:52.4 | effectively banned independent and established relief groups, |
| 0:56.6 | including the UN-A-N agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA. |
| 1:01.7 | Gaza's 400 aid sites were reduced to just four. |
| 1:06.7 | Recent intercept reporting from inside Gaza observed, quote, |
| 1:10.1 | a famine that is manufactured and an aid distribution system seemingly designed to cause more suffering and death. |
| 1:18.7 | We need look no further than the horror show in Gaza, with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times. |
| 1:27.1 | UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez speaking at the Security Council. |
| 1:32.1 | Malnourishment is soaring, starvation is knocking on every door. |
| 1:38.7 | And now we are seeing the last gasp of a humanitarian system built on humanitarian principles. This is what the head of the UN is talking about. |
| 1:48.0 | The abject chaos and danger Garzan's face trying to get food. |
| 1:55.0 | In one of the strongest rebukes of Israel's actions to date, |
| 1:59.0 | more than 100 aid in human rights groups |
| 2:01.7 | issued a joint statement calling on world governments to intervene. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Intercept, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of The Intercept and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.