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The US is finally admitting that Gazans are starving. In the space of less than 24 hours, President Donald Trump shifted positions, from saying that he was not sure people are starving in Gaza to stating that there is “real starvation” in the Israeli-blockaded enclave. In a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland on Monday, Trump said that the US would set up “food centers” in Gaza as he acknowledged Israel “has a lot of responsibility” for limiting aid to the Strip.

His admission puts him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday denied that people are starving in Gaza. In March, Israel pulled out of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, negotiated through the US, and imposed a full blockade on more than 2 million Gazans. It stopped all aid trucks from entering the Strip, thereby denying civilians access to essential supplies such as food, baby formula, medicine, fuel and water.

Israel has used starvation as a weapon from Day 1 of its onslaught on Gaza. Its officials are on record admitting and supporting the blockade. Far-right Cabinet ministers have objected to any proposal that would reopen the border crossings to allow hundreds of aid trucks to enter the beleaguered enclave.

On the few occasions that aid trucks have been admitted, Israel attacked and killed aid workers, including foreign nationals. It accused Hamas of stealing the aid, but the US Agency for International Development debunked that claim. Israel banned the leading UN agency, UNRWA, which is responsible for delivering food and medicine to the Palestinians. It bombed food warehouses in Gaza and created a human-made humanitarian catastrophe that — so far — has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of children and infants from acute malnutrition.

And when pressure was put on Israel and the US to offer an alternative to the UN and other organizations, Netanyahu created the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-Israeli entity manned by armed contractors and protected by the Israeli army, which took responsibility for feeding more than 2 million souls. The outcome is tragic and, to say the least, criminal. So far, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been gunned down by Israel and the armed contractors as they huddled like animals to receive meals.

But even then, Israel poured cement into water wells, denied hospitals access to fuel and medication, and continued to strike safe zones where hapless civilians were ordered to move by the Israeli army for their safety.

The irony is that, even as Israel knowingly and deliberately pushed the Strip into starvation, Western governments, including the US, did nothing to stop it. It was only when the harrowing images of emaciated babies went viral on social media that real pressure was put on Israel.

Netanyahu last week announced a humanitarian pause, allowing aid trucks into the Strip and facilitating airdrops. But while hundreds of trucks traveled from Egypt into an Israeli-controlled border point, only 100 were allowed in. Aid agencies estimate that between 500 and 700 trucks are needed daily to contain the humanitarian crisis.

Netanyahu must be ordered to end the humanitarian crisis and stop weaponizing food and medicine. 

Osama Al-Sharif

The so-called humanitarian pause is a lie. Israel continues to bomb Gaza, mainly killing civilians, while the few functioning hospitals lack fuel, food, water and medication.

Now, Trump wants to establish food centers in Gaza. Israel will find ways to sabotage that effort. What Trump fails or refuses to say is that Israel must open the border crossings to let aid trucks in without conditions. Netanyahu must be ordered to end the humanitarian crisis and stop weaponizing food and medicine.

Israel lost all sympathy for its war as it waged an open genocide on Gaza. The objective was never to defeat Hamas but to destroy Gaza and displace its people. US, Egyptian, Qatari and even Israeli negotiators know that Hamas was ready to deliver the hostages if Israel would commit to ending the war. However, Netanyahu and his far-right government partners have other ideas. They openly talk about reoccupying and colonizing Gaza. They have no sympathy for the high civilian toll and push for forcing Gazans to leave at any price.

Israel’s image in the West has been tarnished and no one believes it can ever be repaired. If and when the war stops and independent journalists and investigators enter the Strip, the complete picture of the horrors Israel has created there will become clear. Even Israeli reports now believe the final death toll in Gaza will be double or triple the current figures.

Despite all the war crimes that Israel has committed in Gaza, the Palestinians are not leaving. Israel has had to abandon its grotesque proposal to set up a so-called humanitarian city on the remains of Rafah — a concentration camp no different to the ones the Nazis built for European Jews ahead of their “final solution.”

The images of starving Palestinian children are a stain on the face of humanity, but they will especially haunt Israelis and those who enabled this genocide. It could be brought to an end today. Trump must tell Israel to do so.

Trump’s admission that Gazans are starving and that the war must end requires bold action. Such action must be done in collaboration with Western countries that have leverage remaining over Israel. Ending the humanitarian crisis is a priority. This collective message must be sent to Netanyahu as soon as possible. Ending the blockade is the first step.

This must be followed by a plan to end the war, retrieve the hostages and end Hamas’ control of the Strip. Israel must pull out and allow an interim authority to take over, as was previously suggested. Gazans need protection and Israel needs assurances that Oct. 7 will never happen again. This is a moment where Hamas must put the safety and interests of the Palestinian people, who have paid a dear price over the past 22 months, ahead of its own.

But even then, that is not enough. The Palestinian question must be addressed and a resolution to decades of war and death must be found. The core of instability in the region has always been linked to Israel’s denial of Palestinian self-determination and rejection of the two-state solution. The need for international momentum to relaunch a genuine peace process has never been more urgent.

Trump is in a position to change the current trajectory not only in Gaza, but in Israel and the West Bank as well. The Palestinian issue is, at its heart, not humanitarian but political and the time has come to address it.

• Osama Al-Sharif is a journalist and political commentator based in Amman. X: @plato010