“We’ve Got to Be Good to Gaza”: Trump Vows Aid, But Starvation Tightens Grip on Besieged Strip
Washington (Quds News Network)- “We’ve got to be good to Gaza. Those people are suffering,” U.S. President Donald Trump said this today, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. He claimed that humanitarian aid had been part of his phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We’re going to take care of that,” Trump said. “There’s a very big need for medicine, food, and medicine, and we’re taking care of it.”
But on the ground in Gaza, nothing has changed. No aid has entered the Palestinian enclave since March 2. In fact, Israel has escalated its assaults, siege, and expulsion orders in Gaza.
The United Nations says Gaza is no longer at risk of famine—it is already happening. The World Food Programme announced Friday that its food stocks have completely run out.
“Hunger is spreading in Gaza, malnutrition is deepening, injured people remain untreated, and people are dying,” said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.
Local authorities describe the crisis as “mass death in progress.” The Gaza Health Ministry has recorded at least 52 hunger-related deaths, including 50 children. More than 60,000 children are suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Over one million face daily hunger.
Hospitals have collapsed due to fuel shortages, damage, and lack of medical supplies. Water desalination plants are offline. Bakeries have closed. Fuel to run generators and ambulances is gone.
Israel’s total blockade of Gaza has now lasted 55 days. Israeli officials claim the policy is meant to ‘pressure Hamas’.
When asked if he had pushed Netanyahu to open aid access points, Trump replied, “We are.”
Asked how the Israeli leader responded, Trump said, “Felt well about it.”
But Israel has not changed its policy. Defense Minister Israel Katz has recently called the blockade a “main pressure lever.” Far-right Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that U.S. Republicans support bombing food and aid stores inside Gaza.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said food has become unaffordable for most families. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported that more than 500,000 people have been newly displaced in the past month alone. It also warned that only a third of Gaza remains habitable, and even that is unsafe.
The Ministry of Health reported that 84 people were killed and 168 injured in the past 24 hours alone due to Israeli airstrikes. Since October 7, 2023, 51,439 Palestinians have been killed. More than 117,000 have been injured.
