Against the backdrop of growing testimonies about severe hunger spreading in the Gaza Strip, Channel 14 mocked last week (21.7) a Gazan mother whose daughter was reported to have died of starvation. Among other things, the channel joked about cannibalism, claiming that the mother ate her daughter.

In the program "Riklin & Co.," hosted by Shimon Riklin, the presenter spoke out against what he called a "campaign in Israeli media" claiming that Israel is starving the Strip's residents. He was assisted by channel presenter Tamir Morag, who raised a question: How is it possible that the media circulates photographs showing very thin Gazan children, while their parents are fat, "maybe even suffering from obesity."

The claim is part of a propaganda campaign by the Israeli government, which denies the severe humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the war and the siege imposed by the IDF, despite numerous documentation from the Strip published by media outlets and international agencies and testimonies from aid workers and international organizations.

Channel 14 is a television channel that frequently spreads government propaganda and incites violence, under the guise of a news channel, and Riklin is one of the channel's most venomous presenters. The media figure is embroiled in financial lawsuits, and a petition has already been filed against the channel demanding to open an investigation against Channel 14 on suspicion of committing war crimes.

An appeal has been made to open a criminal investigation against Channel 14 and its presenters for repeated incitement against the judicial system, incitement to genocide, violence and racism.

In his program last week, as proof that there is no hunger in Gaza, Riklin asked the program's director to show a screenshot from a report that aired on CNN about the death from starvation of a 4-year-old girl in Gaza. The report shows, among other things, the mother, Tahrir Abu Zaher, next to the child's bed while she was still alive.

Article about a 4-year-old Gazan girl who died of starvation, 21.7.2025 (Screenshot: CNN)

Riklin, together with his studio colleagues, began joking about the mother's appearance and mocking her.

"Let's put it this way," Morag remarked, "when you see the mom, it's pretty clear why the child died of starvation."

"This is not a starving woman," Riklin added.

"No," Morag agreed, "this is a woman who maybe ate all her child's food."

"A woman who ate a whole goat," suggested panel member Betty Lahav, formerly a senior official in the Prison Service at the rank of deputy warden.

"Who ate the child herself," said another panel member, attorney Ephraim Dimri, brother-in-law of Minister Gila Gamliel.

Later in the discussion, Riklin questioned whether the child had actually died. "I don't see a child," he said. Indeed, no child's figure was visible on screen as it had been blurred by the channel.

However, Riklin's main argument concerned the mother's appearance. "I find it hard to believe that an obese woman's child died of starvation."

Morag raised the possibility that there was indeed a child who died, but from illness or another cause. Morag agreed with Riklin's assertion that given the mother's appearance, it was clear that the child did not die of starvation.

"Look what donuts she has," Lahav remarked.

Immediately afterward, Riklin moved on to discuss the "hate campaign" of the leftist media.

The article was first published in Hebrew on July 27