“Trump Says ‘a Lot of People Are Starving’ in Gaza and the U.S. Wants to Help” is the headline in The New York Times as I write this. In another article, he is quoted as saying that he had seen pictures on television of children in Gaza and said they ‘look very hungry’ and that ‘we have to get the kids fed.’”
He’s absolutely right. Mass starvation is spreading across the occupied Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s unlawful blockade and near-total siege. What he didn’t mention is the starvation is intentional and that his administration is directly supporting it.
Evidence gathered by Amnesty International demonstrates how over a month since the introduction of its militarized aid distribution system known as the Gaza Humanitarian Aid Foundation (GHF) which is backed and funded by the Trump administration and implemented by U.S. security contractors, the government of Israel has continued to use starvation of civilians as a weapon of war against Palestinians in Gaza.
Deadly Humanitarian Distribution Sites
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed and thousands injured either near militarized distribution sites or en route to humanitarian aid convoys. According to the UN, over 800 people have been killed and thousands injured while attempting to reach food distribution points. These aren’t accidents. These are attacks on people who are struggling to survive and feed their families.
Amnesty’s researchers are documenting the unthinkable: entire families forced to choose between starvation and being shot. Infants are dying from malnutrition. Mothers can’t produce milk because their own bodies are breaking down.
According to an open letter from more than 100 organizations, including Amnesty, “Even aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organizations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes.”
Devastating Experience of a Fieldworker
The personal account of Amnesty International’s field worker in Gaza of his own family’s suffering—“We Are Torn Apart Watching Our Children Suffer From Hunger”—is incredibly difficult to read. But we must not look away.
Israel’s Legal Responsibilities
As the occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure Palestinians in Gaza have access to food, medicine and other supplies essential for their survival. Instead, it has brazenly defied binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice in January, March, and May 2024, to allow the unimpeded flow of aid to Gaza.
Worse even still, all the evidence gathered suggests that the GHF was designed to placate international concerns while constituting another tool of Israel’s genocide.
The U.S. Must Act
President Trump must recognize his own administration’s role in this Israeli government-engineered humanitarian catastrophe and take urgent action to end Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. This includes:
- Cease all funding and support to Israel’s militarized aid schemes
- Ensure the restoration of a principled, UN-led humanitarian response
- Pressure Israel to lift the illegal blockade and all restrictions on humanitarian aid and allow unfettered, safe, and dignified access to humanitarian aid throughout Gaza immediately
- Suspend immediately all arms transfers to Israel
- Bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire
- Work to achieve the release of all remaining hostages and arbitrarily detained Palestinians
World leaders and governments that continue to enable genocide risk complicity in it.