If Cook's story that the Israelis are trying to starve refugees into submission, there should be clearly independent verification of it.

Is there any? I didn't see any last night.

All I find are a reference to the number of food-carrying trucks going into Gaza daily, and to the fact that at some point the Israelis calculated the average number of calories required per person in Gaza. The figure is about the same as the number assumed for Americans by the U.S. government.

A Nazi-like policy of starvation or malnutrition would be an earth-shaking story that would be almost impossible to cover up.

For that reason it would be extremely stupid as well as criminal. It could not possibly benefit Israeli security. Yet no major news organization seems to be reporting it.

Questions: For how long have the food shipments been (allegedly) inadequate? If it's been true for months, it can't be legitimately explained. But if it's only been a few days (with minimal impact), it probably can be. And who says that Vilnai's comments have anything to do with what's actually happening? (He's not in charge of anything.) Why haven't others who favor the alleged policy spoken out similarly? Where's the outrage from liberal Israelis, including those who got the "Red Line" documents declassified in the first place?

So far it doesn't add up.

And the phrase "usual suspects" cuts two ways.