Scotland — In a rare moment of political divergence, former US President Donald Trump publicly rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s repeated denials of starvation in Gaza, calling out the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in plain sight. Standing next to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a press briefing in Scotland, Trump declared: “Those children look very hungry, you can’t fake that,” referring to the images beamed daily from the besieged enclave.
The comment came just hours after Netanyahu shamelessly insisted that “there is no starvation in Gaza,” parroting a lie that collapses under the weight of reality, as footage of skeletal children, emaciated mothers, and overflowing mass graves continue to horrify the world. Trump’s blunt repudiation of Netanyahu’s fantasy exposes a growing rupture in the once-unquestioning transatlantic complicity with Israel’s genocidal policies.
For months, human rights organizations, aid workers, and medical personnel have been sounding alarms about the slow, deliberate weaponization of starvation in Gaza, a tactic many legal experts now believe constitutes a war crime. The number of children who have died from hunger or dehydration has soared. Gaza’s Health Ministry recently reported that 147 people, mostly children, have died due to starvation since October 2023. Other independent monitors have documented 133 starvation deaths in just the last week alone, a staggering figure that points to a manmade famine in motion.
The United Nations and dozens of NGOs have relentlessly warned that aid deliveries to Gaza are not just insufficient and inconsistent, they are deliberately obstructed and cynically manipulated by Israel. At best, a pathetic 100 to 120 trucks are allowed in daily, a cruel trickle compared to the flood of need. Israel’s much-touted “10-hour humanitarian pauses” are nothing more than PR stunts, as shelling and drone attacks resume with precision timing, often slaughtering civilians lined up for food, water, and basic survival.
Trump’s deviation from Israel’s talking points is not only rhetorical, it is politically calculated. The former president touted a $60 million US contribution to humanitarian aid for Gaza, a move meant to position Washington as part of the solution while simultaneously pressuring the EU and UK to “step up.” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer echoed the sentiment, calling the situation a “real humanitarian catastrophe” and saying that food and water “must be delivered without delay.”
Israel’s response to the mounting evidence of starvation has been defiant. Netanyahu, in a televised statement, said: “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza. Israel enabled humanitarian aid throughout the duration of the war.” He laid blame at the feet of Hamas and the United Nations, accusing them of either intercepting or mismanaging aid, a claim that UN officials have vehemently denied.
But such denials have not insulated Israeli leaders from growing international legal peril. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for both Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for allegedly using starvation as a method of warfare, a prosecutable war crime under international law. The ICC noted “systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid” as part of a broader pattern of crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel has ignored the warrants, calling them “politically motivated.” Yet legal scholars argue that the documented targeting of civilian infrastructure, including bakeries, desalination plants, and hospitals, supports the genocide designation that many nations and rights groups have now adopted.
Observers believe Trump’s remarks are a deliberate pivot, an attempt to appear morally responsive to growing global outrage without fully alienating his conservative base, which largely supports Israel. “He’s testing a new script,” said one Middle East analyst. “It’s a populist pivot: keep the alliance, but distance yourself from the bloodshed just enough to look human.”
With the ongoing Genocide in Gaza entering its 10th month, the desperation is palpable. Starving families are digging for weeds, grinding up animal feed, and drinking brackish water from bombed pipes. Aid groups like Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières describe an apocalyptic environment where famine is not a future threat but a current, rolling reality.
The Biden administration has remained notably quieter on Netanyahu’s claims, relying instead on back-channel diplomacy and incremental pressure. But with Trump now weaponizing Gaza’s starvation crisis in campaign optics, Washington’s silence may no longer be politically sustainable.
According to The Guardian, Trump told reporters in Scotland, “Maybe they have to do it a different way,” referring to Israel’s approach to the war, and added, “Let’s feed these people, that should be our number one priority.” Noted, his direct rebuke of Netanyahu came as Israeli officials continued to deny responsibility for Gaza’s humanitarian collapse, even as death tolls rise and aid trucks remain stalled at borders.
