Obama calls for action to stop ‘preventable starvation’ in Gaza
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Obama Presses For Aid In Gaza To Combat A ‘Travesty’ Of ‘Preventable Starvation’
Israel announced this weekend that it would pause military operations for ten hours a day in certain parts of Gaza to allow more aid drops. At least 133 people, including 87 children, have died from malnutrition since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israeli Brigadier General Effie Defrin also claimed Sunday that there’s no starvation in Gaza.
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As CBS reported, at least 133 people, including 87 children, have died from malnutrition since October 2023, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At least 48 malnutrition-related deaths have occurred in July, the health entity told The Associated Press.
Israel announced this weekend that it would pause military operations for ten hours a day in certain parts of Gaza to allow more aid drops beginning on Sunday. Israeli Brigadier General Effie Defrin also claimed Sunday that there’s no starvation in Gaza, while noting that conditions were “approaching a problematic line” this past weekend.
A spokesperson for the Israeli military did not immediately respond when asked for comment on Obama’s post.
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In his statement, Obama linked to a New York Times story featuring accounts from physicians and civilians. One parent described frantically searching for milk for her toddler, while another spoke of how his child was suffering from malnutrition and in intensive care. “Some arrive shivering from hunger,” Mohammad Saqr, head of the nursing department at Nasser Medical Complex, told The Times.
“Prevent Dying Of Starvation”: Barack Obama On Gaza Humanitarian Crisis
Former US President Barack Obama on Monday called for immediate action to stop what he described as the “preventable” starvation in Gaza. WHO on Sunday warned that the malnutrition rates are reaching “alarming levels” in Gaza, adding the “deliberate blocking” of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives. Israeli military on Sunday began a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day amid growing concerns over surging hunger and global criticism over its 21-month war.
“While a lasting resolution to the crisis in Gaza must involve a return of all hostages and a cessation of Israel’s military operations, these articles underscore the immediate need for action to be taken to prevent the travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation,” Obama said. linking to a US media article.
He asserted that aid “must be permitted” to reach the people in the Gaza Strip.
“There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,” the former US President said.
While a lasting resolution to the crisis in Gaza must involve a return of all hostages and a cessation of Israel’s military operations, these articles underscore the immediate need for action to be taken to prevent the travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation.… — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 27, 2025
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Sunday warned that the malnutrition rates are reaching “alarming levels” in Gaza, adding the “deliberate blocking” of aid was entirely preventable and had cost many lives. Out of the 74 recorded malnutrition-related deaths this year, 63 had occurred in July – including 24 children under five, one child aged over five, and 38 adults, it said.
According to WHO, nearly one in five children in Gaza is now acutely malnourished, and the percentage of children aged four to six years suffering from acute malnutrition has tripled in the city since June, making it the worst-hit area in the Palestinian territory.
Food experts have also warned for months the risk of famine in Gaza – where Israel restricted aid to the population of over 2 million, saying that Hamas “siphons off” goods to help bolster its rule.
10-Hour Tactical Pause
The Israeli military on Sunday began a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day amid growing concerns over surging hunger and global criticism over its 21-month war. Calling it a “tactical pause”, the Israeli military said it would increase the humanitarian aid flow entering the territory. The pause runs from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily until further notice.
“Whichever path we choose, we will have to continue to allow the entry of minimal humanitarian supplies,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
‘Height of brutality’: Iran condemns Israel, supporters for war of starvation on Gaza
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the “height of brutality” by the Israeli regime, denouncing the mass starvation policy and killing of Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza as acts of genocide and war crimes. On Tuesday alone, at least 15 Palestinians, including four children, starved to death while Israeli strikes killed at least 81 people. The statement comes as humanitarian groups, including the UN and its children’s agency UNICEF, warn of catastrophic levels of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza. The United Nations described the situation in the territory as a “horror show with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times” The Palestinian Red Crescent Spox warns the crisis in Gaza is “only getting worse,” calling it an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”Nearly 101 people — including 80 children — have died from starvation, including nearly 100 children, the UN says. The ministry also cited United Nations reports indicating that 90% of Gaza is now uninhabitable, and that 1.2 million residents face life-threatening levels of hunger.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the ministry expressed deep concern over the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, noting that the situation is a result of “horrific crimes” committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.
Slamming the continuation of massacres alongside the denial of food, water, medicine, and other basic necessities to the defenseless people of Gaza, the ministry urged the international community and regional countries to take swift and decisive action to stop the genocide and alleviate Palestinian sufferings.
“The continued inhumane blockade of Gaza, the brutal bombardment of shelters for displaced people, and the transformation of humanitarian aid distribution points into traps for targeting and massacring starving and thirsty civilians are clear evidence of the extreme cruelty and brutality of the Israeli apartheid regime and its supporters,” reads the statement.
The ministry referred to the heavy toll of starvation and attacks on aid seekers, saying, “The killing of over 1,000 innocent people waiting in food lines and the death of more than 600 others from hunger mark the height of the Zionist regime’s brutality and clear examples of war crimes and genocide.”
The statement comes as humanitarian groups, including the UN and its children’s agency UNICEF, warn of catastrophic levels of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza. On Tuesday alone, at least 15 Palestinians, including four children, starved to death while Israeli strikes killed at least 81 people. The United Nations described the situation in the territory as a “horror show with a level of death and destruction without parallel in recent times.”
Palestine Red Crescent Spox Nebal Farsakh warns the crisis in Gaza is “only getting worse,” calling it an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Nearly 101 people — including 80 children — have died from starvation.
Follow: https://t.co/U3DDExueps pic.twitter.com/dXnEw366m3 — Palestine Highlights (@PalHighlight) July 23, 2025
The ministry also cited United Nations reports indicating that 90% of Gaza is now uninhabitable, and that 1.2 million residents face life-threatening levels of hunger.
Denouncing the paralysis of the UN Security Council, the ministry said, “The Council’s failure to fulfill its legal duties, due to persistent obstruction by the United States, has emboldened the Israeli regime and normalized its criminal behavior.”
It added that the US and several European nations, especially Germany, have provided “comprehensive military, economic, and political support” to Israel, granting it effective impunity and enabling further atrocities, including the “ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of Palestinians.”
“The backers and apologists of the Israeli regime, particularly the United States, who not only supply weapons and political cover but also obstruct any accountability measures, are complicit in these crimes and must be held responsible,” the statement continued.
Pointing to the collapse of Gaza’s health system and the five-month-long Israeli ban on food and medicine entry, the ministry said Gaza is now facing a full-scale humanitarian catastrophe, where “a plan to exterminate the Palestinian people is being carried out in its most horrific form by the most ruthless of criminals.”
It called on all states, international bodies, and humanitarian organizations—especially the UN Human Rights Council, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the World Health Organization, and UNICEF—to act urgently and effectively to stop Israel’s crimes and end the suffering in Gaza.
“This legal and moral obligation has its basis in the UN Charter, international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their protocols, and the Genocide Convention,” the statement emphasized.
Iran also urged Muslim and regional countries to fulfill their “obvious moral and religious duty” by using all available tools, including through the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the United Nations, to pressure Israel’s backers—especially the United States—to end the aggression and to facilitate the urgent delivery of food, water, and medical aid to Palestinians.
The statement also reaffirmed Iran’s support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and their legitimate struggle to resist occupation and colonial apartheid, stressing the need for further unity among free nations and Muslim states to stop “a colonial genocide in occupied Palestine.”
Aid groups warn of ‘mass starvation’ in Gaza Strip
Meanwhile, aid groups have also called for action against Israel, warning that “mass starvation is spreading” across the territory.
The group, including Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and Oxfam, say that their colleagues in the Gaza Strip are wasting away from hunger.
“Doctors report record rates of acute malnutrition, especially among children and older people,” they said in a statement. “Illnesses like acute watery diarrhoea are spreading, markets are empty, waste is piling up, and adults are collapsing on the streets from hunger and dehydration.”
“Distributions in Gaza average just 28 trucks a day, far from enough for over two million people, many of whom have gone weeks without assistance,” they said. “The UN-led humanitarian system has not failed, it has been prevented from functioning.”
The NGOs called for decisive action, saying symbolic gestures like airdrops or flawed aid deals “serve as a smokescreen for inaction, noting, “They cannot replace states’ legal and moral obligations to protect Palestinian civilians and ensure meaningful access at scale. States can and must save lives before there are none left to save.”
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 59,106 Palestinians—mostly women and children—and wounded over 142,500 others since October 2023.
Trump says Israel will have to decide on next steps in Gaza, pledges more aid
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza. He said he did not know what would happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas. Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue. He added Washington would provide more aid to the Palestinian enclave devastated by U.S.- ally Israel’s military assault. Democratic US senators ask Trump administration to stop funding the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Obama on X says aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza and calls for action to prevent “a travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation” The U.N. estimates Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the GHF, the new private aid group that uses a for-profit logistics firm run by a former CIA officer.
Summary Democratic US senators ask Trump administration to stop funding GHF
Obama on X says aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza
Trump says US to provide more aid, seeking other donors
Trump says he spoke with Netanyahu about Gaza, Iran
TURNBERRY, Scotland/WASHINGTON July 27 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza , adding he did not know what would happen after the collapse of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with Hamas.
Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue. He added Washington would provide more aid to the Palestinian enclave devastated by U.S. ally Israel’s military assault.
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“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
“I know what I’d do, but I don’t think it’s appropriate that I say it. But Israel is going to have to make a decision,” he said, while also claiming, without evidence, that Hamas was stealing food coming into Gaza and selling it.
Reuters reported on Friday an internal U.S. government analysis found no evidence of systematic theft by Hamas of U.S.-funded humanitarian supplies, challenging the rationale that Israel and the U.S. gave for backing an armed private aid operation.
Over 20 Democratic U.S. senators wrote a letter to the Trump administration on Sunday, urging it to cease funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and restore support for existing United Nations aid distribution mechanisms.
The U.N. estimates Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 people seeking food supplies, the majority near the militarized distribution sites of the GHF, the new private aid group that uses a for-profit U.S. logistics firm run by a former CIA officer and armed U.S. military veterans.
Dozens of Gazans have died of malnutrition in recent weeks, according to Gaza’s health ministry. It reported six new deaths over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition, bringing the total deaths from malnutrition and hunger since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza to 133 including 87 children.
Democratic former President Barack Obama said on Sunday aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza. “There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,” Obama wrote on X, adding action should be taken “to prevent the travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation.”
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, alleging Hamas did not want a deal.
Netanyahu said Israel was now mulling “alternative” options to achieve its goals of bringing its hostages home and ending Hamas rule in Gaza, where starvation is spreading and most of the population is homeless amid widespread ruin from Israel’s assault.
Trump said he believed Hamas leaders would now be “hunted down”, telling reporters: “Hamas really didn’t want to make a deal. I think they want to die… And it got to be to a point where you’re going to have to finish the job.”
US TO PROVIDE MORE AID, TRUMP SAYS
Trump on Sunday said Washington would provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza, but wanted other countries to participate as well. He said he would discuss the issue with von der Leyen.
“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food, a lot of everything,” he said. “If we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly. They would have starved, and it’s not like they’re eating well.”
He said he spoke with Netanyahu, adding they also discussed Iran. He said he and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would discuss Israel on Monday.
Trump said Washington was not acknowledged for earlier food aid for Gaza.
“No other country gave anything,” he said, calling out Europe in particular. “It makes you feel a little bad when you do that and, you know, you have other countries not giving anything… Nobody gave but us. And nobody said, Gee, thank you very much. And it would be nice to have at least a thank you.”
The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered in October 2023 when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, Israeli tallies show.
Reporting by Andrew Gray, Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh; additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington, writing by Andrea Shalal and Kanishka Singh Editing by Marguerita Choy and Nick Zieminski
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Obama calls for action to stop ‘preventable starvation’ in Gaza
“There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,” Obama says. “When I see the children, they’re stealing the money,’ he adds. � “It’s a mess, that whole place is a mess.” “They say we don’t allow humanitarian supplies in, yet we do. There are secure corridors. They’ve always existed, but now it’’
“While a lasting resolution to the crisis in Gaza must involve a return of all hostages and a cessation of Israel’s military operations, these articles underscore the immediate need for action to be taken to prevent the travesty of innocent people dying of preventable starvation,” Obama wrote in a post on the social platform X, linking to two New York Times articles.
“Aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza. There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,” he added in a subsequent post.
Israel’s military said earlier Sunday that it would start a “tactical pause” in fighting in Gaza amid mass starvation concerns.
President Trump on Sunday told reporters that Hamas is stealing food meant for people in Gaza, when asked for his response to the images of starving children in the Palestinian territory governed by the militant group.
“When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they’re stealing the money, they’re stealing the money for the food. They’re stealing weapons, they’re stealing everything,” the president said.
He added, “It’s a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza Strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn’t work out too well.”
The Israeli military has reported that there is no proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against international criticism on Sunday, saying Israel has been allowing limited humanitarian aid into Gaza, as long as the aid didn’t enhance Hamas’s military capabilities or harm hostages. Netanyahu said Israel must continue to do so, The Jerusalem Post reported.
“We’ve done this so far,” Netanyahu said, according to the Israeli newspaper. “But the U.N. is spreading lies and falsehoods about Israel. They say we don’t allow humanitarian supplies in, yet we do. There are secure corridors. They’ve always existed, but now it’s official. No more excuses.”