US President Donald Trump has said “a lot of people are starving” in besieged Gaza, where rescuers reported more than 74 deaths in Israeli air strikes.
Mr Trump’s brief comments on Gaza came as he capped the first foreign tour of his second term that saw him visit several Gulf countries but excluded key ally Israel.
A two-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in March, shortly after Israel reimposed a total blockade on Gaza that aid agencies say has sparked critical food shortages.
Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes and shelling today killed 74 people in the war-battered Palestinian territory, updating a previous toll.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Basal reported “74 martyrs as a result of the ongoing Israeli bombardment across the entire Gaza Strip since last night until this moment,” most of them in the north of the Palestinian territory, after the agency earlier reported more than 50 dead.
When asked by AFP, the Israeli army made no comment on the strikes.
The latest deaths come as Palestinian rescuers reported more than 100 people killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza yesterday. And on Wednesday, rescuers said at least 80 people died across the region.
“We’re looking at Gaza. And we’re going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving,” Mr Trump told reporters in Abu Dhabi.
Israel cut off aid to Gaza on 2 March, a tactic it has said is intended to force concessions from militant group Hamas, which is still holding dozens of Israeli hostages it seized in October 2023.
Hamas insisted yesterday that the restoration of humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory was “the minimum requirement” for talks.
It also warned that Gaza was not “for sale” hours after Mr Trump again floated taking over the territory and turning it into “a freedom zone”.
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good… let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone,” Mr Trump said on the Qatar leg of his Gulf tour, adding he would be “proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone”.
The comments echoed an idea he floated in February for the US to “take over” the devastated territory and redevelop it into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.
Senior Hamas official Basem Naim responded, saying: “Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian land – it is not real estate for sale on the open market.”
Hamas sparked the war in October 2023 with an unprecedented attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.
Of the 251 hostages taken during the attack, 57 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
The health ministry in Gaza said 2,876 people have been killed since Israel resumed strikes on 18 March, taking the war’s overall toll to 53,010.
Israeli media reported that the military had stepped up its offensive in Gaza, following government approval of a plan to retake the territory earlier this month.
The army said it was looking into the reports.
Israel’s main group representing families of hostages still held in Gaza said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was missing a “historic opportunity” to get their loved ones out.
“The hostages’ families woke up this morning with heavy hearts and great concern in light of reports about increased attacks in Gaza and the imminent conclusion of President Trump’s visit to the region,” the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement.
“Missing this historic opportunity would be a resounding failure that will be remembered in infamy forever.”
But another hostages family support group called for more military pressure.
“The military pressure must be much stronger, with high intensity, and coordinated with diplomatic pressure, a complete siege, cutting off water and electricity,” the Tikva Forum group said.
The United Nations estimates that 70% of Gaza is now either an Israeli-declared no-go zone or under evacuation order.
‘Fundamental human right’
For weeks, UN agencies have warned that supplies of everything from food and clean water to fuel and medicines are reaching new lows.
The World Health Organization said the last hospital in Gaza providing cancer and cardiac care had stopped functioning after an Israeli attack on Tuesday left it “severely damaged and inaccessible”.
UN special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, accused Israel of “killing what’s left of humanity”.
Israel says its aid stoppage and military pressure are meant to force Hamas to free the remaining hostages.
But Mr Naim said the entry of aid into Gaza was “the minimum requirement for a conducive and constructive negotiation environment”.
“Access to food, water, and medicine is a fundamental human right – not a subject for negotiation,” he added.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a US-supported NGO, said it would begin distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza this month after talks with Israeli officials.
But the United Nations ruled out involvement with the initiative yesterday.
