TURNBERRY, SCOTLAND — On Monday, July 28, 2025, US President Donald Trump directly disputed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there was “no starvation in Gaza.” This was a clear public rebuke of a key US ally in the Middle East. During a meeting with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump told reporters that the suffering in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave was clear and unmistakable.
“We’ll help with the meals. We can get to a lot of food… We’re going to take it over there. We will also make sure that they don’t have barriers that keep people out. You know where the food is and how loud the people are asking for it… They won’t let them because there are rigorous lines that are drawn up, and it doesn’t matter if Hamas or someone else placed them up. “We have to get rid of those lines,” Trump said, laying out proposals on how to get help to people.
He remarked, emphasizing how bad the situation was, “But we’re going to get some good, strong food.” We can help many individuals. Some of those youngsters are very hungry. I see it, and you can’t make it up.
Trump’s comments went against what Netanyahu said on Sunday at a conference in Jerusalem. “There ain’t no starvation in Gaza/live charity in Gaza, estimations say, and I promise you that we will reach our bare Scottish goals,” Netanyahu said. We will keep fighting until we free our hostages and destroy Hamas’s ability to rule and fight. They won’t be there anymore.
The worsening humanitarian crisis
Many reports from foreign organizations and local health professionals show that there is a lot of hunger and malnutrition in Gaza, even if Netanyahu denies it. Al Jazeera reports, citing local health experts, that at least 14 Palestinians, including two children, died from starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the last 24 hours.
The Gaza Ministry of Health, which is run by the Hamas government but is recognized by the UN as a reliable source of casualty data, said on Monday that these latest deaths bring the total number of deaths from malnutrition since the start of Israel’s military campaign in October 2023 to 147, including 88 children. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also said that malnutrition in Gaza is on a “dangerous trajectory,” with a high surge in mortality, especially in July. In 2025, WHO recorded 74 deaths attributable to malnutrition. 63 of those deaths happened in July, and 24 of them were children under five.
Most of these deaths have happened in the last few weeks, as Gaza’s hunger crisis gets worse because of significant restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into the area. In March 2025, Israel completely blocked Gaza, but in May, it partially lifted the siege. But since then, only a little amount of aid has been allowed to come in, even though the United Nations and humanitarian agencies have warned many times that there is a very real risk of mass hunger. The UN World Food Program (WFP) recently said that starving people stole food from its trucks before they got to warehouses in Gaza. The situation shows how much the people need help.
Since October 7, 2023, when Hamas conducted a horrific attack in southern Israel that killed 1,139 people and took over 200 hostages, the Israeli military has been attacking Gaza. Al Jazeera says that the continuous fighting has killed about 60,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children. Aid groups are still asking for an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted access for humanitarian aid to stop more people from dying.