From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 5, 2025
Trump: We’re going to help ‘starving’ Gazans get food, but Hamas ‘making it impossible’
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
US President Donald Trump says his administration will help get food to “starving” Gazans during a two-month-and-counting Israeli aid blockade, but he says Hamas has made it “impossible” by diverting humanitarian assistance for its fighters.
“We’re going to help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving and we’re going to help them get some food,” Trump tells reporters during an event at the White House.
Israeli officials to date have claimed that Gazans are not yet starving and that enough aid entered the Strip during a six-week ceasefire to sustain the Strip for an extended period time, even though they have also argued — like Trump — that Hamas has been stealing aid.
Jerusalem is working on implementing a new system to distribute aid in a manner that it hopes will prevent its diversion by Hamas, but international aid organizations briefed on the initiative said yesterday that they will not cooperate with it, as it does not properly address the humanitarian crisis.
“A lot of people are making it very, very bad,” he continues. “Hamas is making it impossible because they’re taking everything that’s brought in.”
The president adds that Palestinians in Gaza are “being treated very badly by Hamas.”
The Times of Israel Community.