US President Donald Trump says many people are starving in the Gaza Strip and has suggested Israel could do more on humanitarian access, as Palestinians struggled to feed their children a day after Israel declared steps to improve supplies.
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As the death toll from two years of war in the enclave nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gazan health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fuelling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions.
Describing starvation in the Gaza Strip as real, Trump's assessment put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Sunday "there is no starvation in Gaza" and vowed to fight on against the Palestinian militant group Hamas - a statement he reposted on X on Monday.
Trump, speaking during a visit to Scotland, said Israel has a lot of responsibility for aid flows and that a lot of people could be saved.
"You have a lot of starving people," he said.
"We're going to set up food centres," with no fences or boundaries to ease access, Trump said.
Trump said he would not comment on a push by French President Emmanuel Macron to back Palestinian statehood.
The United States would work with other countries to provide more humanitarian assistance to the people of the Gaza Strip, including food and sanitation, Trump said.
On Monday, the Gazan health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 88 children, most in just the last few weeks.
Israel announced several measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses to fighting in three areas of the enclave, new safe corridors for aid convoys and airdrops.
The decision followed the collapse of ceasefire talks on Friday.
Two Israeli defence officials said the international pressure prompted the new Israeli measures, as did the worsening conditions on the ground.
United Nations agencies said a long-term and steady supply of aid was needed.
The World Food Programme said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched - short of target.
Almost 470,000 people in the Gaza Strip are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments, it said.
"Our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza," WFP regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, told Reuters.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Reuters the situation is catastrophic.
"At this time, children are dying every single day from starvation, from preventable disease. So time has run out."
Netanyahu has denied any policy of starvation, saying aid supplies would be kept up whether Israel was negotiating a ceasefire or fighting.
In his statement on Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel would continue to fight until achieving the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas and the destruction of its military and governing capabilities.
Trump said Hamas had become difficult to deal with in recent days but he was talking with Netanyahu about "various plans" to free hostages still held in the enclave.
The war began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas militants attacked communities across the border in southern Israel, killing about 1200 people and taking another 251 hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
The Gazan health ministry said that 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours.
Some of the trucks that made it into the strip were seized by desperate Palestinians, and some by armed looters, witnesses said.
"Currently aid comes for the strong who can race ahead, who can push others and grab a box or a sack of flour. That chaos must be stopped and protection for those trucks must be allowed," said Emad, 58, who used to own a factory in Gaza City.
Qatar said it had sent 49 trucks that arrived in Egypt en route for the strip.
Jordan and the United Arab Emirates airdropped supplies.
Israel cut off all supplies to the Gaza Strip from the start of March, reopening the territory with new restrictions in May.
Israel says it abides by international law but must prevent aid from being diverted by militants, and blames Hamas for the suffering of the Gaza Strip's people.
"Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bald-faced lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza," Netanyahu said on Sunday.
Australian Associated Press
