Donald Trump told Israel to allow “every ounce of food” into Gaza as he acknowledged for the first time that there is “real starvation” in the region.
During a visit to Britain, the US president contradicted Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister claimed it was a “bold-faced lie” to say Israel was causing hunger in Gaza.
Trump is under increasing pressure to intervene in the humanitarian crisis, with dozens of Palestinians having died of hunger in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by the UN and other humanitarian organisations to Israel’s blockade of almost all aid into the territory.
In meetings with Keir Starmer – including a rambling 70-minute press conference at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland – the president also said he was losing patience with Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine and vowed to impose sanctions on Russia’s trading partners within 10-12 days if there was no ceasefire.
He heaped praise on Starmer, but in a domestic intervention that will not have been appreciated by the British prime minister, Trump urged him to cut taxes and tackle illegal immigration to win the next election.
Starmer privately pressed Trump on Gaza during the trip, government sources said.
The US president told reporters that Israel bore “a lot of responsibility” for the crisis in a rebuke to Netanyahu, who had claimed earlier on Monday that there was “no starvation in Gaza”.
Asked whether he agreed with this assessment, Trump said: “I don’t know. Based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry.”
He later added: “We can save a lot of people, I mean some of those kids. That’s real starvation; I see it and you can’t fake that. So we’re going to be even more involved.”
Asked what he would ask Netanyahu for next time they spoke, Trump said: “We’re giving money and we’re giving food, but we’re over here … I want him to make sure they get the food. I want to make sure they get the food, every ounce of food.”
