Trump says many in Gaza are 'starving'

GAZA CITY - US President Donald Trump said Friday that "a lot of people are starving" in the besieged Gaza Strip, where rescuers reported more than 70 people killed in Israeli air strikes since midnight.

Trump's brief comments on Gaza came as he capped the first foreign tour of his second term, which saw him visit several Gulf countries but excluded key ally Israel.

A two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in March, shortly after Israel reimposed a total blockade on Gaza that aid agencies say has sparked critical food shortages.

"We're looking at Gaza. And we're going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving," Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.

Israel cut off aid to Gaza on March 2, a tactic it has said is intended to force concessions from militant group Hamas, which is still holding dozens of Israeli hostages it seized in October 2023.

Hamas insisted on Thursday that the restoration of humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory was "the minimum requirement" for talks.

It also warned that Gaza was not "for sale" hours after Trump again floated taking over the territory and turning it into "a freedom zone".

On Friday, Gaza's civil defence agency said that 74 people had been killed in Israeli strikes since midnight, reporting dozens more trapped under the rubble as shelling continued.

The strikes sparked panic in northern Gaza.

"We were asleep when suddenly everything exploded around us," north Gaza resident Umm Mohammed al-Tatari, 57, told AFP.

"Everyone started running. We saw the destruction with our own eyes. There was blood everywhere, body parts and corpses. We didn't know who was dead and who was still alive."

Another resident, 33-year-old Ahmed Nasr, said the bombing continued through the night.

"We couldn't sleep or find any peace. There is no safety. We could die at any moment," he said.

AFPTV footage from the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia showed mourners crying over the bodies of their loved ones.

The dead and injured lay on a blood-smeared floor, where medics treated those still alive.

"They were innocent people," said Mayar Salem, who lost her relatives.

"Only their remains are left... They were my sisters and daughters."

 

- 'Historic opportunity' -

 

Hamas sparked the war in October 2023 with an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.

The health ministry in Gaza said 2,876 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on March 18, taking the war's overall toll to 53,010.

Israeli media reported Friday that the military had stepped up its offensive in Gaza following government approval of a plan to retake the territory earlier this month, though the army has yet to formally announce its threatened expansion of the campaign.

The military said it was continuing its operations, adding that over the past day, it had "struck over 150 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip including anti-tank missile posts, terrorist cells, military structures, and operational centres".

Israel's main group representing the families of hostages still held in Gaza said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was missing an "historic opportunity" to get their loved ones out.

"The hostages' families woke up this morning with heavy hearts and great concern in light of reports about increased attacks in Gaza and the imminent conclusion of President Trump's visit to the region," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.

"Missing this historic opportunity would be a resounding failure that will be remembered in infamy forever."

But another hostage family support group called for more military pressure.

"The military pressure must be much stronger, with high intensity, and coordinated with diplomatic pressure, a complete siege, cutting off water and electricity," the Tikva Forum group said.

The United Nations estimates that 70 percent of Gaza is now either an Israeli-declared no-go zone or under evacuation order.

 

- 'Minimum requirement' -

 

For weeks, UN agencies have warned that supplies of everything from food and clean water to fuel and medicines are reaching new lows.

The World Health Organization said the last hospital in Gaza providing cancer and cardiac care had stopped functioning after an Israeli attack on Tuesday left it "severely damaged and inaccessible".

Israel says its aid stoppage and military pressure are meant to force Hamas to free the remaining hostages.

But senior Hamas official Basem Naim said the entry of aid into Gaza was "the minimum requirement for a conducive and constructive negotiation environment".

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-supported NGO, has said it will begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials.

But the United Nations on Thursday ruled out involvement with the initiative.