The UN was forced to correct the figure after it was cited by humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher in a BBC interview, but not before it was repeated in Parliament
May 23, 2025 14:07
Two members of the House of Lords have raised the alarm over what they describe as the “grotesque inaccuracy” of a widely repeated claim that 14,000 babies in Gaza could die from malnutrition within 48 hours.
The claim, initially made by a UN official and repeated this week by 13 Members of Parliament, has since been corrected by the UN, which clarified that the figure – based on a report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Partnership – refers to cases of severe acute malnutrition over the next year, not deaths within two days.
Conservative peer Lord Polak and crossbencher Lord Walney both voiced concern in the Lords about the continued circulation of the claim.
The original comment, made by the UN’s humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, was widely reported in national media and cited in Parliament. The BBC has since issued a clarification, noting that Fletcher’s remark misrepresented the IPC report, which projects the number of children aged six months to five years at risk of “severe malnutrition” by March next year, rather than by the end of the week. The number is a projection and would not take into account any increase in the supply of aid between now and then. Israel has since resumed a flow of aid into Gaza.
Lord Polak said: “Truth matters” and “words have consequences.”
He criticised several MPs for having “repeated the lie” and urged them to “put that record straight.” He then named those who had shared the claim: Joe Powell; Adnan Hussain; Debbie Abrahams; Ben Lake; Olivia Blake; Tahir Ali; Vikki Slade; Danny Chambers; Imran Hussain; Monica Harding; Carla Denyer; Yasmin Qureshi; and Josh Fenton-Glynn.
Lord Polak also referred to the murder of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, a young couple who were about to be engaged and worked for the Israeli embassy in Washington. They were shot dead by a man who shouted “Free Palestine”.
“These were two beautiful souls gunned down as a direct result of toxic, antisemitic incitement against Israel and Jews around the world, and I register an interest as a Jew, a proud Jew. Yehi zichram baruch: let their souls be for a blessing,” Lord Polak said.
Lord Walney, the government’s former anti-extremism tsar, also addressed the murders and warned of a similar threat in the UK.
“We have a growing level of extremism and hate and a risk to British Jewish citizens here that may well result, I am afraid to say, in similar action being taken on the streets of London. We have to do more to stand up against the demonisation of Israel while this conflict is going on,” he said.
Both expressed concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Their remarks came as another peer, Lord Levy – former Middle East envoy and adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair – offered a rare public intervention, expressing support for Foreign Secretary David Lammy’s Commons speech on Gaza.
“There has to be a stand, not just from us in this country, but internationally, against what is going on in Gaza,” Lord Levy told BBC Radio 4’s World at One on Wednesday.
Lord Levy’s cousin Emily Damari was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and released this January.
Describing himself as “a very proud Jew, deeply involved in our community and someone who passionately cares for Israel,” he added: “It is so difficult to watch the news and see what’s going on in Gaza, to the civilian population, to innocent children and the total destruction – and then to listen to the words of some of the far-right ministers, Smotrich, Ben-Gvir, and what they are saying. That, to me, is not the way I was brought up as a Jew.”
He described the two far-right politicians as “terrorists”.
Lord Levy warned that without a change in Israeli policy, tougher action from the UK government could follow.
“I do believe that unless what is going on in Gaza stops, unless the Israeli government changes its position, I do think there is a strong possibility that what has been said will come to fruition and that the [UK] government will take a much stronger position and actually take action,” he said.
He cautioned that this could include halting “any form of arms sales and [implementing] sanctions against Israel. I don’t want that to happen, but it may have to happen, with other countries involved, because what is going on is absolutely intolerable.”
While acknowledging that Lammy had used “very strong vocabulary”, Lord Levy noted that Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan had gone further. Golan said Israel was becoming a “pariah state, like South Africa was” and that “a sane country does not fight against civilians, does not kill babies as a hobby, and does not give itself the aim of expelling populations.”
Lord Levy said Golan’s words had made him want to cry.
Lord Levy condemend the Israeli prime minister's "extreme" comments about Western leaders (Photo: Youtube / Channel 4)[Missing Credit]
Speaking later to Channel 4 News, Lord Levy also criticised the Israeli government’s response to the embassy murders, saying it was “absolutely outrageous” for the Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs to blame Western leaders for the attack. He condemned Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim that such leaders were perpetuating a “blood libel” as “extreme.”
The Israeli PM has accused Keir Starmer of being “on the wrong side of justice, humanity and history”, after the UK leader, together with French President Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, released a joint statement calling on Israel to end its military operation in Gaza immediately.
Netanyahu accused them of “blood libels against the Jewish state”.
Lord Levy told Channel 4, “It saddens me that a Prime Minister of Israel can say these things. Let him look in the mirror and see what he has done in this period of time and then let him reflect.”
His comments come amid growing division within the British Jewish community over the war in Gaza.
Following the UK government’s decision to suspend free trade talks with Israel and summon the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Office for a formal reprimand, the Jewish Leadership Council issued a strongly worded response.
Although the JLC said “We share concerns about the severe humanitarian situation in Gaza and increased violence in the West Bank,” in a statement they went on: “We are disappointed by the UK government's announcement to pause free trade negotiations with Israel.
“The government has made free trade a priority objective since coming to power. Agreements are made in recognition of mutual benefit. Until this point, free trade negotiations have been sought with a variety of countries including those with competing interests and values. Today's statement appears to abandon this principle for one country alone, a country fighting a war against terror as our country has fought terror.
“Weakening Britain's important security, economic and strategic relationship with Israel risks diminishing the UK's influence at a crucial moment,” the JLC said.
Pro-Israel advocacy group Stand With Us UK also criticised the decision, saying they were “deeply concerned” by the government’s move to suspend trade talks and summon the ambassador.
“A future trade agreement serves the interests of both nations, and halting it harms not only Israel but also Britain’s strategic and economic standing.”
Their statement went on, “The fight against Hamas is not Israel’s alone. It is a global fight against jihadist terror and barbarism. Democracies committed to freedom and liberal values must stand together.”
However, pro-peace advocacy group Yachad welcomed the government's decision, saying they “fully support the UK government's announcement to take significant action, including the suspension of negotiations on the UK-Israel Free Trade Agreement, in response to the Netanyahu government's decision to continue to prosecute the war in Gaza in a manner that is totally unjustifiable.
“Our community does not speak with one voice, and we represent the voices of many thousands of British Jews and Israelis who are deeply troubled by the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza [and the abandonment of the hostages...
“Whilst this is by no means the outcome that anyone would wish for, it is the inevitable response to the behaviour of the Israeli government and the appalling statements that have been made day in day out by its members, highlighting their support for ethnic cleansing and the starvation of civilians.”
Israel has consistently denied that it has a policy of starvation in Gaza.
