Trump Is Right to Point the Finger at Hamas for Gaza Woes

National Review Online

Thursday, July 31, 2025

 

From the start of Israel’s war against Hamas, there have been dire warnings of imminent famine in Gaza that have proven false.

 

In November 2023, just over a month after the October 7 massacres, United Nations World Food Programme director Cindy McCain told CBS that Israel’s effort to destroy Hamas had already put Gaza “on the brink of famine.” By February 2024, no famine had occurred, but the United Nations put out a statement claiming that “at least” 576,000 Gazans, or about a quarter of the population of the strip, were “one step away from famine.” A few months later, two U.N. agencies warned that “over one million people — half the population of Gaza — are expected to face death and starvation (IPC Phase 5) by mid-July [of 2024].”

 

Israel’s many enemies have a huge incentive to promote the idea that Israel is using starvation as a tool of warfare. The New York Times, along with most major media outlets throughout the world, turned a photo of a skeletal toddler in Gaza, Mohammed Zakaria al-Mutawaq, into a rallying cry against the supposed Israeli policy of starvation. But the outlets did not report that the boy was born with a muscular disorder, which helped explain his sickly appearance, and they did not print part of a photo that showed his healthy-looking brother beside him. Days after the deception was exposed, the New York Times, which ran the photo on the front page, quietly updated the story, but only after the original photo had been spread around the world.

 

All that said, it does appear the humanitarian situation has now become more serious. Amit Segal, an Israeli journalist who has been skeptical of prior claims of mass starvation, has pointed to research showing the rising price of flour in Gaza and concluded that this time, “Gaza may well be approaching a real hunger crisis.” Other credible sources have concluded the same.

 

Even facing a hostile population, Israel has gone to incredible lengths to try and help feed Gaza. In terms of sheer amount of supplies, it’s an effort on par with the Berlin airlift. The current operation, though, has faced barriers created by the United Nations and Hamas. When the U.N. and its affiliated groups were in charge of food distribution, its supplies routinely ended up in control of Hamas, which hoarded aid for its own fighters and also sold it on the black market to raise money for its war against Israel.

 

Israel, seeking a way to get aid directly to the people without inadvertently helping to fund the terrorist group, helped put together the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation along with the United States. In the face of many challenges and threats from Hamas, the group has distributed about 100 million meals since launching in May. The new system for distributing food has created a cash crunch for Hamas, which is now struggling to pay its fighters.

 

However, despite its efforts, GHF was never intended to completely replace all food distribution programs, only to supplement them. Unfortunately, because the U.N. refuses to cooperate with the GHF, it has at times allowed hundreds of truckloads’ worth of aid to pile up inside Gaza without distributing them. As David Makovsky, a scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has pointed out, according to its own data, when it has made deliveries in recent months, an incredible 87 percent of U.N. trucks have been “intercepted” — i.e., looted either by people seeking aid or armed gangs seeking to steal the aid. The U.N. has cited this as a reason why aid has been allowed to pile up undelivered at times, though it also has opposed the IDF protecting the routes. There have been incidents in which the IDF has fired warning shots to disperse mobs surrounding aid trucks, resulting in casualties. This has been used by Israel’s critics to make the unfounded claim that Israel is using the promise of aid as a trap to purposely kill off civilians.

 

Hamas, meanwhile, has long demonstrated that it is willing to put its own population at risk knowing that the world will always blame Israel for any suffering that occurs. It’s telling that as international criticism of Israel spiked over starvation claims, Hamas dug in further in cease-fire negotiations, rejecting a deal that would have freed the hostages and put both sides on a path to ending the war. There is no reason for Hamas to make concessions if it believes deteriorating conditions in Gaza will force Israel’s hand without the terrorist group having to do anything. The U.K., in a statement on Tuesday, threatened Israel with recognizing Palestinian statehood at the U.N. in September if things don’t change. Why would Hamas negotiate if it believes it can hold out a bit longer and advance the cause of Palestinian statehood, which its leaders have spoken about as an intermediary step in their efforts to eliminate Israel?

 

Also on Tuesday, the Arab League, for the first time, condemned the October 7 attacks and called on Hamas to give up its arms and release all the hostages, albeit with the usual poison pill of a Palestinian state and a “right of return” to Israel.

 

Trump, who is clearly growing frustrated and angry about the conditions in Gaza, has been right to forcefully speak out against moves to reward Hamas by recognizing a Palestinian state, and to point the finger where it belongs. On Thursday morning, with his envoy Steve Witkoff in Israel for talks about a cease-fire and the situation in Gaza, Trump posted on Truth Social: “The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!” If the rest of the world were to echo this statement, rather than attacking Israel, there’d be a better chance for a deal to end the war and allow more aid to reach the people of Gaza.