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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
The Polish foreign ministry has revealed that Google has rejected complaints over a series of YouTube videos in Polish published by the Israeli embassy that Poland says are spreading “manipulated or false content” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Meanwhile, a Polish media report claims that the foreign ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador to discuss the videos.
In late July and early August, the embassy posted six videos claiming that Israel is providing large amounts of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, that stories about starvation are Hamas propaganda uncritically shared by international media, and that it is the UN which is blocking aid trucks from entering.
Those were followed in late August by two further videos aiming to show that there is indeed no lack of food in Gaza.
One features footage showing restaurants operating in Gaza City in July 2025, while another depicts food markets in Gaza this summer. The Polish versions of those two videos have together been viewed 3.4 million times.
The same videos have also been posted on YouTube in German, Italian and English by Israel’s foreign ministry. However, factcheckers from various media outlets – including Deutsche Welle and France 24 – note that they give a misleading impression of the situation and do not disprove famine in Gaza.
Many of the businesses featured in the videos have confirmed that they regularly face shortages of basic products. Meanwhile, the prices they charge for food, which are inflated by such shortages, are beyond the reach of most people in Gaza.
Moreover, the fact that food is available in some places does not negate the existence of shortages more broadly. A variety of international organisations, including the UN World Food Programme and the World Health Organisation, have reported the existence of famine in Gaza.
In August, Poland’s foreign ministry warned that “children are starving” in Gaza while Prime Minister Donald Tusk accused Israel of causing “hunger and the death of mothers and children”. That prompted criticism from the Israeli foreign ministry.
At the same time, the Polish government said it was powerless to take action against the YouTube videos published by Israel.
However, in early August, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) revealed that the head of the foreign ministry’s department for countering disinformation spoke with Israeli ambassador Yaakov Finkelstein about the issue.
Now Rzeczpospolita, a leading Polish daily, reports that, on 27 August, the ambassador was summoned to the ministry for further talks about the YouTube videos.
Israel has criticised Polish PM @donaldtusk after he suggested Israeli politicians are causing children to starve in Gaza.
It called the remarks “unacceptable” and said Tusk should "remember the lessons” of the Holocaust because Hamas are “the new Nazis”https://t.co/9fUwRNKLzg
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) August 5, 2025
Meanwhile, at the ministry’s request, the Disinformation Analysis Centre (DOA) at NASK, a state body subordinate to the digital affairs ministry, submitted complaints to Google, the owner of YouTube, over the videos. News of those submissions was first reported by news website OKO.press in late August.
“In their submission, NASK DOA experts pointed to manipulated or false content in Google ads and videos on YouTube channels, which – according to the platform’s community guidelines – should result in the content being withdrawn,” confirmed NASK in a statement to Rzeczpospolita.
However, “Google responded that the promoted materials were consistent with its policies and values”, the foreign ministry told the newspaper.
Asked why it had taken action over the issue, the ministry said that “one of [our] tasks is to counteract foreign interference and manipulation in the information environment”.
🔴 TYLKO U NAS: Rząd zajął się dezinformacją Izraela. Ambasador na dywaniku
Kliknij w zdjęcie, by przeczytać artykuł 🔽 https://t.co/NZE6M8kLGJ
— Rzeczpospolita (@rzeczpospolita) September 14, 2025
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Ambasada Izraela/YouTube (screenshot
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
