After the Israeli Air Force tweeted a photo of its pink fighter jet to raise awareness about breast cancer, some social media users were quick to brand the stunt “hypocrisy at its best.”
Referred to as “pinkwashing” by many who criticize Israel’s actions against Palestinians, some Twitter users didn’t hold back, stating that Israel could “bomb Palestinian women with planes you paint pink for breast cancer awareness.”
The US Navy tweeted a similar image earlier in October.
According to Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, Tel Aviv’s decades long blockade of Gaza has had a crippling impact on the densely populated strip’s health infrastructure.
The group claims a lack of medical equipment, fuel supplies and permit requirements to receive treatment inside Israel has led to many cancer patients dying in Gaza over the years.
A 2016 study by the Al-Quds University in Palestine described cancer among the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza as an increasing "public health concern," with breast cancer "the most common cancer among women and lung cancer among men."