President Trump said on Tuesday that more food was urgently needed in Gaza, but added that he trusted Israeli officials to handle the distribution of aid despite the intense criticism they have faced over the humanitarian crisis unfolding there.
Mr. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One on his way back to the United States after a four-day trip to Scotland, said he expected additional food distribution centers to be set up in Gaza “very soon, very soon,” but it was unclear what, if any, role the United States would play. While Mr. Trump recently broke with Israeli leaders by acknowledging a starvation crisis in Gaza, he said he still believed they should be in charge.
“We’re going to be dealing with Israel, and we think they can do a good job of it,” Mr. Trump said. “They want to preside over the food centers to make sure the distribution is proper.”
For months, Mr. Trump largely deflected questions about hunger in Gaza, but he changed course on Monday.
Before a meeting with Britain’s prime minister in Scotland, Mr. Trump said he did not “particularly” agree with a recent assertion by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that there was no starvation in Gaza. And although he repeated familiar complaints about not getting enough thanks for the aid the U.S. has supplied and echoed Israel’s dubious claim that Hamas routinely steals it, he said there was “real starvation” in Gaza and talked about the dire conditions facing children there.
The next day, Mr. Trump again raised the plight of children in Gaza, where a United Nations-backed food security group said on Tuesday that “the worst-case scenario of famine” was playing out because of severe aid restrictions imposed by Israel.
“Those are kids that are starving,” he said. “They are starving, and you see the mothers, they love them so much, and there’s just nothing they seem to be able to do. They got to get them food. And we’re going to get them food.”
Mr. Trump said he’d spoken with the first lady, Melania Trump, about the crisis. “She thinks it’s terrible,” he said. “She sees the same pictures that you see. And that we all see.”
Last week, the United States approved $30 million in funding for the aid distribution system in Gaza, which has seen deadly violence erupt near its distribution sites. The distribution system is backed by Israel and run mostly by American contractors. According to the United Nations, Israeli soldiers have shot and killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians who have crowded the routes to aid sites, which can only be reached by walking through military lines. The Israeli military has described the gunfire as “warning shots” when people got too close to soldiers, but international doctors treating the wounded said Palestinians have been systematically targeted.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he spoke to Mr. Netanyahu over the weekend and was confident that Israel could preside over food distribution.
“We sent money and I want to make sure the money is spent wisely and spent judiciously and that food is distributed in a proper manner, and he wants to do that,” Mr. Trump said.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs is a White House correspondent for The Times, covering President Trump and his administration.
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