A PHOTO seemingly showing a starving boy in Gaza was “hijacked” by Hamas to create “fake news”, it was claimed last night.

The picture of Muhammad al-Matouq in his mum’s arms went viral last week – amid claims Israel was blocking aid deliveries to the Strip.

But campaigners say he was already suffering genetic disorders and his mum and brother looked healthy in the picture.

Investigative journalist David Collier, who supports Israel, stated: “This isn’t a depiction of famine. It’s a portrayal of a child with medical vulnerabilities whose unfortunate condition was exploited and turned into a tool.”

He accused news outlets who used the image of benefiting Hamas and creating “fake news“.

The Gaza health ministry reported on Monday that a minimum of 14 individuals had succumbed to hunger and malnutrition in the preceding 24 hours, raising the war’s total deaths from starvation to 147, which includes 89 children.

Israel announced a “tactical pause” in fighting in three areas of Gaza yesterday amid worsening of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

The Israeli Defence Force said it would halt operations in Muwasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City from 10am to 8pm.

It said it will set up corridors to help aid agencies deliver food and supplies.

Within hours, Jordanian and Emirati planes had air-dropped 25 tonnes of aid.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched – but this amount fell short of Gaza’s needs.

Samer AbdelJaber, the WFP’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, remarked: “Sixty is far from sufficient. Our current goal is to deliver 100 trucks into Gaza each day.”

The Programme explained how almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said only a ceasefire would alleviate the needs of those “desperately suffering”.

And Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, said the latest aid drops would not solve food shortages in Gaza.

Last week, more than 100 aid agencies warned that mass starvation was spreading across the Palestinian enclave.

The military also said Saturday that it had connected a power line to a desalination plant, expected to supply daily water needs for about 900,000 Gazan people.

Israel’s foreign ministry said the military would “apply a ‘humanitarian pause’ in civilian centres and in humanitarian corridors” on Sunday morning.

The announcement came after indirect ceasefire talks in Doha between Israel and Hamas were broken off with no deal in sight.

The UN said that humanitarian pauses in Gaza would allow “the scale up of humanitarian assistance”.

The Israeli military stressed that despite the humanitarian steps, “combat operations have not ceased” in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has previously blamed Hamas for the suffering of Gaza’s population.

Israel is keeping up its heavy bombardment in the face of global ceasefire pleas and huge protests in Tel Aviv.