Trump says we need to help starving Palestinians in Gaza

WASHINGTON: 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.

Asked whether he supported Israeli plans to expand the war in Gaza, Trump told reporters: “I think a lot of good things are going to happen over the next month, and we’re going to see. We have to help also out the Palestinians. You know, a lot of people are starving on Gaza, so we have to look at both sides.”

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.”