US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow food and medicine into the devastated Gaza Strip.
No aid has been delivered into the strip since March 2. Israel has said it would not allow the entry of goods and supplies into Gaza until the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
Earlier on Friday, the UN World Food Programme said it had run out of food stocks in Gaza.
Humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked whether concerns about humanitarian aid access came up in his phone call with Netanyahu earlier this week.
“Gaza came up and I said, ‘We’ve got to be good to Gaza … Those people are suffering,'” Trump said.
When asked whether he raised the issue of opening up access points for aid into Gaza, Trump replied, “We are.”
“We’re going to take care of that. There’s a very big need for medicine, food, and medicine, and we’re taking care of it,” he said.Asked how Netanyahu responded, Trump said: “Felt well about it.”
The war in Gaza was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took some 251 hostages.
“Hunger is spreading in Gaza, malnutrition is deepening in Gaza, injured people and other patients remain untreated in Gaza, and – as we have said before – people are dying,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Friday.
Israeli ministers on aid in Gaza
A heated debate unfolded during a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday over the distribution of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, as ministers voiced conflicting views on how to prevent Hamas from benefiting from aid.
Defense Minister Israel Katz took a firm stance against traditional aid methods, arguing that sending aid through established channels would only strengthen Hamas. “This only strengthens Hamas. Aid will be distributed by IDF soldiers or American companies instead,” Katz asserted.
He also stated that there was no immediate need for additional aid, claiming that sufficient supplies currently exist in Gaza. Katz expressed his opposition to any aid that might inadvertently support Hamas or be used to further its terrorist activities.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir disagreed with Katz’s proposal, telling ministers that the IDF would not be responsible for distributing humanitarian aid. “We will not starve the Gaza Strip,” Zamir emphasized. His position raised tensions, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accusing him of failing to follow government policy. “If you are saying you are incapable of appointing someone to do this, then you can be replaced,” Smotrich remarked sharply.
Ministers within the cabinet, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Innovation Minister Gila Gamliel, expressed concerns that any aid reaching Gaza could fall into Hamas’s hands. They demanded that aid be distributed only in areas under full IDF control, ensuring that it would not empower the terrorist group. “The principle must be that Hamas cannot get its hands on the aid,” said one cabinet member. Some ministers even suggested that Gaza’s civilians should relocate to areas under IDF control to access the aid.
AMICHAI STEIN contributed to this report.
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