BBC Information, Jerusalem
ReutersThere’s “actual hunger” in Gaza, Donald Trump has mentioned, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted there was no such factor.
Requested if he agreed with Netanyahu that it was a “bold-faced lie” to say Israel was fuelling starvation in Gaza, the US president replied: “I do not know… these kids look very hungry… that is actual hunger stuff.”
Talking throughout a gathering with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, Trump mentioned: “No person’s carried out something nice over there. The entire place is a multitude… I advised Israel perhaps they must do it a distinct manner.”
His feedback got here after the UN’s humanitarian chief mentioned “huge quantities” of meals have been wanted to stave off hunger.
Tom Fletcher advised the BBC he welcomed Israel’s measures over the weekend to permit extra assist into Gaza within the type of airdrops, and navy pauses to permit meals convoys to achieve folks.
However he mentioned what had been delivered thus far was simply “a drop within the ocean” of what was required.
“It is the start, however the subsequent few days are actually make or break. We have to ship at a a lot, a lot larger scale. We want huge quantities of assist moving into, a lot sooner,” he advised BBC Radio 4’s Right this moment programme.
Israel mentioned 120 lorry hundreds have been collected from crossings on Sunday through the first each day 10-hour “tactical pause” in navy operations, and that Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped 28 packages of meals.
Hours after Mr Fletcher spoke, the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry mentioned one other 14 folks had died on account of malnutrition over the previous 24 hours.
That introduced the entire variety of malnutrition-related deaths because the struggle start in October 2023 to 147, together with 88 kids, in keeping with the ministry.
Israel, which controls the entry of all provides to Gaza, has denied there may be hunger in Gaza and rejected accusations of being chargeable for meals shortages.
On Sunday, the Israeli navy started actions that it mentioned would enhance the “humanitarian response” in Gaza and disprove “the false declare of deliberate hunger”.
Israel introduced there can be a “native tactical pause” in three areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, as nicely the institution of “designated safe routes” for assist convoys.
The navy additionally allowed assist drops carried out by overseas international locations to renew, regardless of humanitarian businesses warning that the tactic was ineffective and harmful.
Israeli navy physique Cogat, which co-ordinates the entry of assist into Gaza, mentioned greater than 120 lorry a great deal of assist have been collected from crossings by the UN and different worldwide organisations on Sunday, and that a whole bunch extra lorry hundreds have been awaiting assortment.
Mr Fletcher mentioned the UN had collected fewer than 100 lorry hundreds in that point, and famous that 600 to 700 hundreds had entered Gaza each day on common through the two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the beginning of this yr.
Requested to reply to Israel’s criticism of UN businesses for not amassing assist from crossings, he mentioned: “We’re not going to go away on pallets if we will. However to get to it our drivers face bureaucratic constraints, they face large safety constraints.”
He additionally mentioned that a lot of the UN’s meals lorries have been looted after getting into Gaza on Sunday.
“Most of these lorries… have been hit by determined particular person civilians, ravenous. The flour was taken off these lorries and its very, very harmful for our drivers.”
Mr Fletcher additionally warned that UN groups on the bottom believed the Israeli navy’s pauses would solely final per week or so, which he mentioned can be “clearly inadequate when earlier than our eyes we’re seeing this twenty first Century atrocity on the bottom”.
“We want a sustained interval of supply – weeks, months – to construct up, to cease that hunger and construct up the provides once more. Finally, we want a ceasefire. Pauses are step in the proper route, however stopping the battle is the important thing.”
On Sunday, the World Well being Group warned that malnutrition was “on a harmful trajectory within the Gaza Strip, marked by a spike in deaths in July”.
Of the 74 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza in 2025, 63 had occurred this month, together with 24 kids below 5 and one youngster over 5, the UN company mentioned.
“Most of those folks have been declared useless on arrival at well being services or died shortly after, their our bodies exhibiting clear indicators of extreme losing,” it added.
The WHO mentioned the disaster was “solely preventable” and condemned what it referred to as the “deliberate blocking and delay of large-scale meals, well being, and humanitarian assist”.
Hamas has denied stealing assist, and on Sunday the New York Instances cited senior Israeli navy officers as saying that the navy had by no means discovered proof that the armed group had systematically stolen assist from the UN. Reuters information company additionally reported final week that US authorities evaluation discovered no proof of systematic theft by Hamas of US-funded assist.
Netanyahu on Sunday savaged claims that Israel was intentionally ravenous civilians in Gaza, which might quantity to a struggle crime.
“What a bold-faced lie. There is no such thing as a coverage of hunger in Gaza, and there’s no hunger in Gaza.” he mentioned.
“We allow humanitarian assist all through the length of the struggle to enter Gaza. In any other case, there can be no Gazans. And what has interdicted the provision of humanitarian assist is one drive, Hamas. Once more, the reversal of fact,” he added.
Netanyahu mentioned the Israeli navy’s humanitarian pauses and corridors meant the UN had “no excuses left” to not accumulate and distribute all the help from the crossings.
“Cease mendacity. Cease discovering excuses. Do what it’s a must to do.”
On Monday, native hospital sources mentioned Israeli assaults throughout Gaza had killed greater than 30 folks, together with assist seekers.
The Israeli navy launched a marketing campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, by which about 1,200 folks have been killed and 251 others have been taken hostage.
A minimum of 59,821 folks have been killed in Gaza since then, in keeping with the territory’s Hamas-run well being ministry.
