Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed a UN-backed declaration that famine was present in parts of Gaza, calling the report “an outright lie”, AFP reports.

“The IPC report is an outright lie,” Netanyahu said in a statement released by his office, referring to the Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative.

He added that “Israel does not have a policy of starvation”, citing the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during the conflict.