President Trump will have to decide whether America intends to take a leading role in confronting one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes of the 21st century.
President Trump on Monday acknowledged starvation in Gaza after largely deflecting on the issue, even as world leaders and humanitarian organizations warned that more than 20 months of Israeli bombardment and aid restrictions had left nearly two million Palestinians in a hunger crisis.
Speaking to reporters in Scotland during a 75-minute question-and-answer session with Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, Mr. Trump offered a vague promise to open new food sites in Gaza but said nothing about how the United States would get the aid into the largely demolished enclave.
“We’re giving money and things,” Mr. Trump said, adding that he will tell Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to ensure that food gets to people who need it. “I want to make sure they get the food, every ounce of food.”
For Mr. Trump, who boasts about his transactional approach to deal-making on the world stage, the starvation unfolding in Gaza is a test of whether an America First foreign policy can confront one of the biggest humanitarian catastrophes of the 21st century.
