The US President said there was ‘real starvation’ in the Strip during a press conference with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, apparently contradicting claims made by Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu
July 29, 2025 13:37
President Trump had announced that the US will begin assisting with aid distribution in Gaza.
Speaking at a press conference at his golf course in Scotland alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump described what is happening in Gaza as “real starvation”.
“We’re going to set up food centres and we’re going to do it in conjunction with some very good people and we’re going to supply funds, and we just took in trillions of dollars, a lot of money, and we’re going to spend a little money on some food,” Trump said. “We have all of the European nations joining us, and others also called, and they want to be helpful.
“We’re gonna set up food centres where people can walk in and no boundaries,” he added. “We’re not going to have fences.
"They see the food from 30 yards away and they see the food. It’s all there, but nobody’s at it because there are fences set up and nobody can even get it, it’s crazy what’s going on over there.”
However, he did not elaborate on where these new distribution sites would be and how they would be administered or secured.
The US previously tried to supply aid to Gaza during the Biden administration via airdrops and the installation of a floating aid pier, at a cost of over $200 million.
During the conference, Trump was also asked if he agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that there was “no starvation” in Gaza.
“I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,” Trump said.
He added that Israel has “a lot” of responsibility for limiting aid to Gaza and that it “can do a lot” to increase food access in the coastal enclave.
Trump also described conversations with Netanyahu about what Israel’s response should be if the number of living hostages that Hamas holds decreases.
“I said a long time ago, at a certain point, they’re not going to be talking, because they’re going to lose their shield,” Trump said. “You’re going to get down to a number, and the number is going to be at a point where you’re not going to be able to get them back, unless you’re going to be very energetic, or to put it a different way, unless you got to be very ruthless, violent. It’s a bad situation to be in.”
He added that he believed Iran interfered in the latest round of negotiations between Hamas and Israel, which saw both Jerusalem and Washington withdraw their negotiators from Qatar after US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said that Hamas was not acting in “good faith.”
“Iran, I think, interjected themselves in this last negotiation,” Trump claimed. “Iran has been sending out bad signals, I’ll tell you. For a country that just got wiped out [in June’s 12-day war with Israel], they’ve been sending very bad signals, very nasty signals.
“I think they got involved in this negotiation, telling Hamas and giving Hamas signals and orders, and that’s not good,” Trump said.
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