Baba UmarWashington DC — The US State Department has denied that there is a rift between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following their contradictory remarks on the escalating starvation crisis in besieged Gaza.
"What we've seen between the President [Trump] and the Prime Minister [Netanyahu] has been a very good relationship," Tammy Bruce, spokeswoman for the US Department of State, told reporters on Tuesday.
"Certainly, this is a fluid dynamic situation. That's an understatement when it comes to happening in Gaza, especially with the new efforts regarding the humanitarian assistance," she added.
Trump, when asked on Monday in Scotland if he agreed with Netanyahu's remarks about starvation in Gaza, said, "I don't know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry."
Trump later remarked, "Some of those kids are — that's real starvation stuff. I see it, and you can't fake that. So we're going to be even more involved."
Trump's remarks contradicted Netanyahu, who on Sunday stated, "There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza."
Bruce said President Trump prioritises diplomatic solutions due to his humanitarian nature. She called him "a realist" who is prepared to act to achieve peace and a ceasefire.
She noted aid to Gaza is insufficient, adding President Trump plans further action regarding the escalating crisis.
"I think the recognition that no one has denied, we have not denied it in this room that the humanitarian assistance to this point has not been enough. My argument has been that it would never be enough in that obscene, unnatural environment," she said.
"And so we're we're proceeding in that regard and of course with President Trump's leadership, as he noted yesterday, to do even more to assist when it comes to food and other aid."
'Flood Gaza with large-scale food aid'
According to Gaza's Health Ministry, nearly 150 Palestinians have died of starvation since October 2023 including 88 children.
The UN says some 1,000 starving Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli troops at the aid sites of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American non-profit backed by Israel.
On Tuesday, the UN agencies sought urgent action "to prevent mass starvation" in the Palestinian enclave.
The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation cautioned that Gaza is "on the brink of a full-scale famine," stressing that time is running out.
"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement from the agencies.
Two-state solution
During the briefing, Bruce reiterated the US stance on the two-state solution conference held by the UN and hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.
"The UN is serving as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the so-called two-state solution in New York City. This is a publicity stuff that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict in Gaza," she said.
"Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolonged war, will embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real world efforts to achieve real."
She said the US is not participating "in this insult," but will continue to lead "real world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace."
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia and France on Tuesday called on countries at the United Nations to support a declaration that outlines "tangible, time-bound, and irreversible steps" towards implementing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
Last week French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country will recognise an independent Palestinian state.
On Tuesday, UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the UK will formally recognise the State of Palestine in September unless Israel takes various "substantive steps," including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
In addition to more than 140 countries that recognise Palestine, the influence of Britain and France — key Israeli allies with permanent UN Security Council seats and veto power — could play an important role in the Palestinian struggle.
