President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. expects Israel to ensure Palestinians in Gaza are fed, as pressure mounts from both American and Israeli voices for an end to the devastating war that has left tens of thousands dead and much of the enclave in ruins.
“We want Israel to get them fed,” Trump told reporters before departing his New Jersey golf resort. “We’re giving some pretty big contributions, basically to purchase food so the people can be fed... We don’t want people going hungry.”
Trump referenced the work of U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Gaza on Friday to assess the humanitarian crisis.
The trip included a stop at a center run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a controversial initiative aimed at distributing aid in the war-ravaged strip.
Asked if he believed Israel was committing genocide, Trump stopped short: “I don’t think – it's sad. Look, they’re in a war.”
While Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. has provided $60 million in food aid to Gaza, watchdog groups report only $3 million has actually reached the ground.
Meanwhile, the Tel Aviv military’s ongoing campaign in Gaza – launched after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, incursion on southern Israel has drawn growing international condemnation.
According to Palestinian health officials, more than 60,800 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since the war began.
In an unprecedented move, over 550 retired Israeli military and intelligence officials – including former heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet – published an open letter Monday urging Trump to step in and press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a cease-fire.
“What began as a just war has become unjust,” said Ami Ayalon, former Shin Bet director, in an accompanying video. “The war is now eroding both our security and our national identity.”
The letter asserts that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat, claiming the Israeli military has already achieved its two core goals: dismantling Hamas’s command structure and removing it from power. What remains, they argue, must be resolved diplomatically.
“The third goal – bringing the hostages home – can only be achieved through a deal,” the signatories wrote. “Chasing down the remaining Hamas leadership can come later.”
Among those who signed: three former Mossad chiefs (Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy, Danny Yatom), five ex-heads of Shin Bet, and three former military chiefs of staff, including ex-prime minister Ehud Barak.
Their message to Trump was pointed: You have credibility with Israelis. Use it.
While Netanyahu faces growing domestic and international calls to end the war and agree to a hostage-for-cease-fire deal, hardliners in his coalition are demanding more.
Some are openly pushing for a full or partial reoccupation of Gaza – an option that risks further isolating Israel diplomatically.
The former officials instead propose that, following a cease-fire, Trump help assemble a regional coalition to support a reformed Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza, replacing Hamas.
Conditions on the ground in Gaza continue to deteriorate.
U.N. agencies report widespread famine and a collapse of medical infrastructure. Witkoff’s visit aimed to give Trump a clearer view of the suffering and formulate a more effective aid plan.
Despite aid convoys and public pledges, the gap between rhetoric and reality remains wide.
