DoomsdaysCW<p>'A despicable disgrace': <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BobGeldof" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BobGeldof</span></a> condemns <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a> over <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Gaza" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gaza</span></a> hunger</p><p>Updated / Friday, 25 Jul 2025 </p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LiveAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>LiveAid</span></a> founder Bob Geldof has condemned the Israeli government's role in the Gaza crisis, calling it 'a despicable disgrace' and saying it is deliberately <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/StarvingChildren" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StarvingChildren</span></a>.</p><p>" 'Their government is clearly out of control, and their army probably as well… It is a despicable disgrace. And for the Israeli people to allow this in their name is a despicable disgrace,' he told Prime Time.</p><p>" 'It is so utterly bizarre that we're talking about <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Israel" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Israel</span></a>, given the horror of their own past. It is bewildering to me,' he said.</p><p>" 'I was the founding patron of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AegisTrust" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AegisTrust</span></a> for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GenocideStudies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GenocideStudies</span></a>, which is a branch of the British National <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/HolocaustMuseum" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>HolocaustMuseum</span></a>. I spent many times with the survivors of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Holocaust" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Holocaust</span></a>' he told presenter Miriam O’Callaghan, 'were they alive now? They would possibly die of shame. The shame of this, Miriam, the shame for Israel... This is unconscionable.'</p><p>"His comments come amid escalating warnings from UN agencies about catastrophic levels of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/starvation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>starvation</span></a> in Gaza.</p><p>"Earlier, Louise Wateridge, a senior emergency officer with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/UNRWA" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UNRWA</span></a>, described the situation on the ground as 'completely unbearable,' with people stepping over bodies at aid centres in desperate searches for food.</p><p>"She said more than 6,000 aid trucks - half carrying essential food and medical supplies - are currently blocked just outside Gaza by Israeli restrictions.</p><p>"<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/UNICEF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UNICEF</span></a> also warned that ongoing bombardment and mass displacement have rendered large parts of Gaza inaccessible for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/humanitarian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>humanitarian</span></a> operations, with basic health and nutrition services near collapse.</p><p>"Mr Geldof appeared on Prime Time after a report featuring footage and images taken in recent days of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/malnourished" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>malnourished</span></a> and hungry children in Gaza.</p><p>"In the report, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Oxfam" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Oxfam</span></a> aid worker <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BushraKhalidi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BushraKhalidi</span></a> described the actions of Israel as '<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CollectivePunishment" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CollectivePunishment</span></a>,' while <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CarolineWilleman" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>CarolineWilleman</span></a> of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DoctorWithoutBorders" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>DoctorWithoutBorders</span></a>, speaking from northern Gaza, told Prime Time that she had never witnessed anything like what she was seeing currently during her career.</p><p>"She described how <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Palestinian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Palestinian</span></a> colleagues who are caring for sick and dying children are themselves unable to feed themselves or their own children.</p><p>" 'We are witnessing a <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/genocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>genocide</span></a>,' Ms Willeman said, 'we are witnessing a genocide because we are witnessing people from whom food is being upheld, from whom water is being upheld.'</p><p>" 'It literally is beyond our comprehension. Look at your face, look at the aid workers there,' Mr Geldof said, 'What are we living in? I cannot look at those pictures. Obviously, they remind me of 1984, but in completely different circumstances.'</p><p>"Between 1983 and 1985 a major <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/famine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>famine</span></a> erupted in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ethiopia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Ethiopia</span></a> as a result of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/drought" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>drought</span></a> and conflict. Footage in the news media drove Mr Geldof and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/MidgeUre" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>MidgeUre</span></a> to found <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BandAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BandAid</span></a> in 1984 to raise funds for <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FamineRelief" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FamineRelief</span></a> initiatives.</p><p>"A year later, Live Aid, a two-event concert performed simultaneously in the UK and US was held. It featured some of the most famous music acts in the world at the time."</p><p><a href="https://www.rte.ie/news/primetime/2025/0724/1525255-a-despicable-disgrace-geldof-condemns-israel-over-gaza-hunger/" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">rte.ie/news/primetime/2025/072</span><span class="invisible">4/1525255-a-despicable-disgrace-geldof-condemns-israel-over-gaza-hunger/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FoodIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FoodIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WaterIsLife" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WaterIsLife</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/FreePalestine" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FreePalestine</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EndGazaGenocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EndGazaGenocide</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IsraeliWarCrimes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IsraeliWarCrimes</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BibiIsAWarCriminal" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BibiIsAWarCriminal</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/EndTheBlockade" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>EndTheBlockade</span></a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/GazaGenocide" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GazaGenocide</span></a></p>