Trump didn’t like seeing reports of Gazans killed trying to secure aid — White House

US President Donald Trump has not liked seeing reports from recent days of Palestinians killed while trying to obtain humanitarian aid in Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says.

“The president never likes to see that. He wants the killing to end, and he wants to negotiate a ceasefire in this region. He wants to see all of the hostages released from Gaza. That has been a top priority for this president,” Leavitt tells reporters outside the White House.

Dozens of Palestinians were reportedly killed while trying to retrieve aid from a UN convoy in northern Gaza. The IDF has admitted that it fired warning shots that struck some Palestinians who it said approached troops in a threatening manner during the incident. It claims Hamas authorities have inflated the death toll, but it has not provided an alternative figure and continues to ban foreign journalists from freely reporting in Gaza to verify statements made by Hamas authorities.

Leavitt says Trump wants aid to be distributed “in a peaceful manner where more lives are not being lost,” while also ensuring that the assistance cannot reach Hamas.

Trump “hated seeing the pictures of starvation of women and children who desperately need that aid,” she adds.

Leavitt highlights the administration’s decision to back the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been delivering aid in Gaza over the past two months under a new mechanism aimed at diverting Hamas theft.

But that system too has been plagued with problems, as it has forced Palestinians to walk long distances while crossing IDF lines in order to pick up aid. GHF has also not been vetting the thousands of aid recipients picking up boxes of food, due to the utterly chaotic situation at distribution sites, so there is no way to confirm that bad actors are not also taking advantage of the new system. However, Hamas has come out strongly against GHF, warning civilians not to cooperate with the organization.