In an interview with Axios published Friday, Trump explained that his team is developing a plan to help the people of Gaza, saying, "We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to feed them. This should have happened a long time ago."
He added that reports of famine in Gaza were concerning, but accused Hamas of "stealing" aid, an accusation the movement has consistently denied.
It is unclear whether the plan will be implemented through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is jointly run by the United States and Israel, or through other international organizations such as the United Nations.
In this context, Trump noted that he had not yet met with his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, who visited Israel on Thursday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He then traveled to the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday to inspect a US-Israeli aid distribution center.
The White House announced that Witkoff would submit a field report to the president, and that a new aid distribution plan would be adopted based on his findings.
During a White House ceremony on Friday, Trump again addressed the situation in Gaza, saying, "People are starving, and what's happening is horrific."
For its part, Hamas considered Witkoff's visit to the Gaza Strip a "propaganda stunt" aimed at absorbing the growing anger over the US-Israeli partnership in the policy of starvation.
The US move comes amid worsening famine in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of at least 154 Palestinians, including 89 children, since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israeli occupation army is accused of repeatedly shooting at Palestinians waiting for aid, as part of a distribution mechanism run since May 27 by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Palestinian groups describe the mechanism as an attempt to round up the population in preparation for their displacement.
According to the Ministry of Health, this mechanism left approximately 1,330 martyrs and more than 8,818 wounded, most of them unarmed civilians.
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Qatar reached a dead end after Tel Aviv refused to make clear commitments to a ceasefire, withdrawal from Gaza, and the release of prisoners, which Hamas considers the basis for any agreement.
The movement continues to affirm its serious commitment to negotiations, while Israel, with American support, continues its all-out war on the Gaza Strip, including starvation and destruction. Since March 2, it has tightened the closure of all crossings, causing famine indicators to reach catastrophic levels.
Since the genocide began on October 7, more than 208,000 Palestinians, the majority of them children and women, have been killed or injured, and more than 9,000 have gone missing, amid widespread displacement and famine that has claimed many lives.
