Thread by @mishtal

Exclusive:

This is not the face of famine. It is the face of a medically vulnerable child whose tragic situation was hijacked and weaponised.

Exposing the truth behind the viral Gaza 'famine' image of Mohammed Al-Matouq. 1/13
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You’ve seen the photo. A starving Gazan child. Bones showing. Headline after headline claiming it was proof of famine.

It ran on the front page of the Daily Express on 23 July. Then Sky News, CNN, NYT, BBC, Guardian, and others picked it up.

But they left something out. 2/13

Let me just start with other images the media chose not to use. Photographs of Mohammed with his 3-year-old brother Joud. Both mother and brother are healthy and fed.

Any honest journalist should have immediately questioned – and reported - what we were actually seeing. 3/13

Mohammed suffers from cerebral palsy, has hypoxemia, and was born with a serious genetic disorder.

He has required nutritional supplements since birth. A medical report issued in Gaza in May 2025 confirms all of this.

This wasn’t disclosed in a single major outlet. 4/13

I watched @bbcnews lie on screen

They interviewed the mother. She referenced a history of physiotherapy. The signs were there. The BBC ignored them. Instead reported the curved spine was from famine.

A healthy child starving fits the narrative. A child with CP doesn't. 5/13

And what of the father? The media said Mohammed had no father, because he had been killed by the Israelis when out ‘looking for food’. Pushing the hunger narrative even more. This example from @nytimes 6/13

Turns out he was killed on 28 October 2024 (don’t worry – receipts in article below). He was killed in a targeted strike on ‘al Qassabeeb’ street in Jabaliya.

The Israelis lost 7 soldiers in that area in that week. 7/13

This is what ‘al Qassabeeb’ street in Jabaliya looked like that week.

This is a Hamas video showing terrorists targeting the IDF in the same street that Mohammed’s father was apparently out ‘looking for food.' 8/13

The UN and NGOs also played a disturbing role in creating a crisis.

Rather than helping deliver aid, they imposed impossible logistical demands, stalling food deliveries and wanting Hamas control over distribution.

Why? Because Hamas needs control to keep ruling Gaza. 9/13

Let’s call this what it is: The UN, UNRWA and other NGOs are not prioritising the safety of Palestinian civilians or getting aid to a population in need of food.

Instead they push a political agenda that aligns with the survival of Hamas. They want starving kids. 10/13

This is a propaganda war - and images like this are its weapons.

The people who suffer are not just Israelis. They’re Palestinians too. And our media has become a vital part of that machine.

It isn’t just a journalistic collapse – it’s a moral disgrace. 11/13

I tracked the original sources.
I was shown medical reports.
I traced image metadata.
I watched the media lie — not just through what they said, but what they refused to say.

This is what I found – full article 👇12/13 david-collier.com/the-truth-behi…

And finally - media lies are uncovered by this research. If you can - please support my work. Help to fight back. Subscribe on X or support my Patreon- patreon.com/davidcollier or donate via PayPal/CC paypal.com/paypalme/david… - thank you!!!! END. 13/13