French left-leaning daily Liberation has outraged readers and social media users after publishing a cartoon seemingly mocking the Palestinian hunger in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
The cartoon titled "Ramadan in Gaza – The start of a fasting month" was drawn by Corinne Rey, a former cartoonist at the infamous satire magazine Charlie Hebdo.
The drawing depicts a ruined city in the background and a hand sticking out of the rubble, while a heavily breathing man chases two mice and bugs down the street. A woman sits on the street with a starving boy next to her and angrily alerts the running man, by saying, "Not before the sunset," alluding to the Islamic practice of daylong fasting.
Social media users left angry comments under Liberation's post on X, expressing their ire at how the cartoon mocked "genocide."
Many users believed the cartoon clearly mocked Gazans, deprived of basic needs and humanitarian aid, leaving them to starve.
Others questioned why a similar cartoon has not been drawn during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on Gaza since the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, which caused some 1,160 deaths.
More than 31,100 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and over 72,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of most food, clean water, and medicine while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the U.N.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
