Humanitarian aid row: Trump ‘began yelling’ at Netanyahu on phone over Gaza starvation – Report

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump engaged in a heated phone exchange over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, NBC News reported, citing multiple current and former US officials. The confrontation came after Netanyahu, speaking at an event in Jerusalem on July 27, denied that there was starvation in Gaza, insisting, “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza. And there is no starvation in Gaza.”The following day, Trump, while in Scotland, openly contradicted the Israeli leader, saying he had seen images of children in Gaza who “look very hungry” and that “there is real starvation there — you can’t fake that.” According to NBC, Netanyahu demanded a phone call with Trump soon after the remarks, and the two leaders spoke within hours. Officials briefed on the call said Netanyahu repeated his view that reports of widespread hunger were “fabricated” by Hamas. Trump reportedly interrupted and began shouting, telling Netanyahu he had been shown proof by aides that children were starving and that he did not want such claims dismissed as “fake.”One former US official described the call as “a direct, mostly one-way conversation about the status of humanitarian aid” in which Trump did most of the talking. Both White House and Israeli officials declined to comment. NBC said the row underscored US concerns over the deteriorating humanitarian situation, particularly in light of the Gaza Humanitarian Fund, an American-backed aid network at the centre of recent controversy.The call came as the Gaza crisis deepened. At least 38 Palestinians were reported killed overnight while seeking aid from UN convoys and sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with witnesses accusing Israeli forces of opening fire. Another 25 people, including women and children, were killed in airstrikes, according to Gaza hospitals. The Israeli military claimed it only targets Hamas militants and fires warning shots when threatened.International pressure on Israel has grown as famine warnings intensify. A UN report this week said only 1.5% of Gaza’s cropland remains both accessible and undamaged. Aid groups accuse Israel of creating dangerous distribution systems that force civilians to travel through conflict zones, while UN human rights experts have called for the dismantling of the GHF, alleging it enables covert military objectives.Netanyahu has continued to reject claims of starvation, arguing that more military pressure is needed to secure the release of hostages and defeat Hamas. Trump, while voicing support for Israel’s security, has signalled unease over the humanitarian toll, telling reporters that while the next steps are “pretty much up to Israel,” the images from Gaza are deeply concerning.