The Japan Times - Trump warns of 'real starvation' in Gaza as aid deliveries pick up

Speaking in Scotland after meeting Britain's leader, Trump contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who had earlier dismissed fears of famine in Gaza as Hamas propaganda.

Trump said the United States and its partners would help set up food centres to feed the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza facing what UN aid agencies warn is a deadly wave of hunger and malnutrition.

"We're going to be getting some good strong food, we can save a lot of people. I mean, some of those kids -- that's real starvation stuff," he told reporters at a news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

"We have to help on a humanitarian basis before we do anything. We have to get the kids fed," Trump said.

Trump's remarks came after Netanyahu, during a reception on Sunday for Trump's spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain in Jerusalem, declared: "There is no starvation in Gaza, no policy of starvation in Gaza."

- US food centres -

The United States already backs food centres under the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), but the group's high-security operations have been criticised after repeated incidents in which Israeli troops have reportedly fired on civilians near its distribution points.

Trump said the UK and European Union would back the new effort, and that the new food centres would be easier to access -- "where the people can walk in, and no boundaries".

"It's crazy what's going on over there," he added.

The war in Gaza has dragged on for almost 22 months, creating a dire humanitarian crisis only exacerbated by an Israeli blockade on supplies imposed from March to late May.

The easing of the blockade coincided with the beginning of the GHF's operations, which effectively sidelined Gaza's traditionally UN-led aid distribution system and have been criticised as grossly inadequate.

In recent days, the UN and humanitarian agencies have begun delivering more truckloads of food after the Israeli military declared a daily "tactical pause" in the fighting and opened secure aid routes amid mounting international outrage over hunger in the territory.

Jamil Safadi said he had been getting up before dawn for two weeks to search for food, and Monday was his first success.

"For the first time, I received about five kilos of flour, which I shared with my neighbour," said the 37-year-old, who shelters with his wife, six children and a sick father in a tent in Tel al-Hawa.

Other Gazans were less fortunate. Some complained aid trucks had been stolen or that guards had fired at them near US-backed distribution centres.

"I saw injured and dead people. People have no choice but to try daily to get flour. What entered from Egypt was very limited," said 33-year-old Amir al-Rash.

Israel's new tactical pauses apply only to certain areas, and Gaza's civil defence agency reported 54 people killed in Israeli attacks on Monday.

The Israeli defence ministry's civil affairs agency COGAT said the UN and aid organisations had been able to pick up 120 truckloads of aid on Sunday and distribute it inside Gaza, with more on the way Monday.

- Basic supplies -

Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have begun airdropping aid packages into Gaza, while Egypt has sent trucks through its Rafah border crossing to an Israeli post just inside the territory.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, cautiously welcomed Israel's recent moves but warned Gaza needed at least 500 to 600 trucks of basic food, medicine and hygiene supplies daily.

"Opening all the crossings and flooding Gaza with assistance is the only way to avert further deepening of starvation among the people of Gaza," UNRWA said.

Netanyahu has denied Israel was deliberately starving civilians, but on Monday two local rights groups, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, accused the country of "genocide" -- a first for Israeli NGOs.

Israel has said the UN should quickly make use of the pauses in fighting and secure aid routes.

"More consistent collection and distribution by UN agencies and international organisations equals more aid reaching those who need it most in Gaza," said COGAT.

But the amount of aid entering the territory still falls far short of what is needed, say experts, who have called for a permanent ceasefire, the reopening of more border crossings and a long-term, large-scale humanitarian operation.

"We know it's not perfect but we want to stay positive and we're seeing positive steps, because, for example, even the fact that all the requests to go and collect cargo yesterday were approved is already a step in the right direction."

Indirect truce talks between Israel and Hamas -- mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States -- have faltered, and Netanyahu remains determined to push on with the campaign to destroy Hamas and recover Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed 59,921 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

K.Hashimoto--JT