Why Gaza is starving, what’s blocking the aid, and how Trump became the only one Netanyahu seems to listen to

Why Gaza is starving, what’s blocking the aid, and how Trump became the only one Netanyahu seems to listen to

The images emerging from Gaza—skeletal children, lifeless bodies, and malnourished infants—are horrifying but, according to aid agencies, entirely predictable. Humanitarian groups had been warning for months that Israel’s tight restrictions on aid would lead to mass starvation. As global outcry grows, the United Nations has called it a “horror show,” with children like 11-month-old Seela Barbakh and 14-year-old Mosab Al-Debs now symbols of a worsening humanitarian catastrophe, CNN reported.

The UN’s main agency for Palestinians accused Israel of “starving people” just kilometres from stocked Israeli supermarkets. While COGAT, the Israeli authority managing aid into Gaza, claims to be facilitating aid entry, groups on the ground argue otherwise, citing repeated denials of safe passage and route approvals. The far right in Netanyahu’s coalition has openly called for starvation as a pressure tactic—remarks that are reviled abroad but resonate within Israel’s war-hardened political climate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced increasing criticism—not just for the blockade but for his public appearances. On a popular podcast this week, he discussed his fast food preferences, saying he favours Burger King over McDonald’s. Critics saw it as painfully out of touch amid famine. The US correspondent for Haaretz said Netanyahu “spent valuable time” discussing burgers “rather than answering legitimate questions about the Gaza humanitarian crisis.”

More than 100 humanitarian groups and over two dozen European foreign ministers have issued sharp condemnations of Israel’s “drip feeding” of aid. Yet the Israeli government has pushed back strongly, with its foreign ministry dismissing the EU statement as “disconnected from reality.” Former hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin criticized these efforts as toothless, describing them as destined for “the trash bin of history.”

While public condemnation mounts, it appears that only direct pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump has prompted policy shifts. When Trump called Netanyahu after Israel struck a Catholic church in Gaza, the Israeli leader apologized. A similar phone call reportedly pulled Israel back from escalating tensions with Iran. Though the Trump administration has expressed its desire for a ceasefire and hostage deal, visible outrage over Gaza’s starvation crisis has been minimal.

At hospitals like Al-Shifa and Nasser, doctors warn that Gaza is tipping into full-scale famine. One UN worker described the living as “walking corpses,” and the hospital director at Al-Shifa predicted “terrifying death tolls” in the days ahead. Aid groups say thousands of tons of food are ready to move, but without permits or safe routes, supplies remain stuck at the border. Meanwhile, families inside Gaza wait for food, medicine, and a ceasefire that could save countless lives.