A new episode of PalCast titled “They Are Deliberately Starving Us” aired this week, featuring journalist and academic Ahmed Al-Najjar from Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Al-Najjar reported on the growing famine and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinian people. He shared his own tragic story of loss, including the death of his sister, Lubna, who was killed in a carpet bombing. He described those responsible for the genocide as not only the ones holding weapons, but also those “who slaughtered with their silence.”
In this episode, hosts Yousef and Tony spoke with Al-Najjar about Gaza’s rapidly collapsing living conditions. He described the struggle to find basic food and water. Flour, when available, costs ten to twenty times its usual price. Most people couldn’t afford it. Even getting cash required going to dealers who took up to half the money in fees. Al-Najjar said the majority of Gaza’s population had now entered phase five of the famine scale—the most severe level. Children had begun collapsing from hunger in the streets.
The discussion also covered how the Israeli government used food to pressure Palestinians into surrender. Aid was restricted, and people were forced to gather at so-called humanitarian aid points, only to be killed in airstrikes and gunshots. Al-Najjar said the area he was sheltering in, Khan Younis, had been labeled a safe zone, yet it remained under constant attack. He warned that what was happening was not just a humanitarian crisis—it was a systematic campaign to destroy Gaza’s towns and force people to leave.
The episode ended with a call for moral clarity and political action. While many around the world continued to protest, Al-Najjar stressed that governments needed more pressure to change course. He said he feared for his life but felt obligated to report what was happening. He honored fallen journalists like Dr. Refaat Alareer and urged the world not to look away. The episode is now available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.