U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week he must treat the "suffering" residents of the blockaded Gaza Strip with greater compassion.
Asked if he raised the issue of humanitarian aid deliveries, which Israel has blocked for over seven weeks, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he told Netanyahu during a Tuesday phone call that "you've got to be good to Gaza."
"Those people are suffering. We got to be good to Gaza. We're going to take care of that," he said. "There's a very big need for medicine, food and medicine, and we're taking care of it."
Asked whether his administration is pushing the Israelis to allow deliveries of food and medicine, Trump said: "We are."
Earlier Friday, the World Food Program (WFP) announced it has "depleted all food stocks" for families in Gaza as border crossings have remained shut by Israel since March 2. It further warned that its kitchens, a vital lifeline providing only half the population with 25% of daily food needs, are expected to fully run out of supplies within days.
The U.N. agency noted that all 25 bakeries it supported closed on March 31 after running out of wheat flour and cooking fuel. Food parcels distributed to families were exhausted in the same week. The WFP warned of a "severe lack of safe water and fuel for cooking, forcing people to scavenge for items to burn to cook a meal."
Gaza has faced the longest closure of its main border crossings in history, with no humanitarian or commercial supplies entering for more than seven weeks. WFP reported food prices have surged up to 1,400% compared to during the ceasefire, while essential commodities are in critically short supply, raising "serious nutrition concerns" for vulnerable groups, including young children, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly.
More than 116,000 metric tons of food aid, enough to feed one million people for four months, are ready to enter once borders reopen, the agency said.
