US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Hamas is to blame for widespread hunger in Gaza, according to US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who asserted in a new media appearance that the Palestinian terrorist group does not care if the Gazan people they have ruled for nearly two decades have food.

“They don’t care that the people of Gaza eat; they care that they themselves eat,” Huckabee said on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on Tuesday, underlining how Hamas terrorists continue to enjoy ample provisions while ordinary civilians suffer. He went further, quipping that Hamas fighters “need some Ozempic,” a weight-loss drug.

Huckabee claimed that the terrorist organization prioritizes its own interests over the wellbeing of the Palestinian population. He also criticized Hamas for exploiting international food aid, using it as leverage and profiting from the blockade rather than distributing it fairly to those in need. This exploitation not only undermines humanitarian efforts but also reveals the true nature of Hamas as an organization that weaponizes suffering for political and military gain, Huckabee argued

Huckabee’s remarks came amid ongoing international debates over Gaza’s aid delivery system and reports of hunger in the enclave. While many observers have focused solely on Israel’s military actions in Gaza targeting Hamas, Huckabee and others have emphasized that Hamas’s entrenched control and use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes directly contribute to the hardships faced by Gazans.

Israel recently increased the flow of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, after imposing a temporary embargo in an effort to keep them out of the hands of Hamas, which often steals the aid for its own use and sells the rest to civilians at inflated prices. While facilitating the entry of thousands of aid trucks into Gaza, Israeli officials have condemned the UN and other international aid agencies for their alleged failure to distribute supplies, noting much of the humanitarian assistance has been stalled at border crossings or stolen. According to UN data, the vast majority of humanitarian aid entering Gaza is intercepted before reaching its intended civilian recipients.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) released a report saying that Hamas has been inflating the death toll of Palestinians due to malnutrition and that most of those verified to have died had preexisting medical conditions.

Huckabee’s comments also touched on Israel’s recent military actions, including the controversial killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, who the Israeli military said was a terrorist operative for Hamas. The ambassador defended Israel’s efforts to combat terrorism in a complex and volatile region.

“And I think it’s a little disingenuous for us to make the conclusion that this was just an innocent journalist when there’s a lot of evidence to point to the fact that he was not quite so innocent when it comes to his relationship with Hamas,” Huckabee said.