Netanyahu: "There is no starvation in Gaza."

CNN: Netanyahu: "There is no starvation in Gaza" - 28 July, 2025

Pres. Trump disagrees: "Based on television, those children look very hungry. We're giving a lot of money and a lot of food. Other nations are now standing up."

IDF to limit the killing of Palestinians to only 14 hours per day, as the IDF has agreed to a ceasefire for 10 hours of the day.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

"There is no starvation in Gaza."

The U.N. successfully operated 400 distribution sites for a long time until Israel and the U.S. cut those sites down to four sites only, under the US-Israel food distribution program.

Israel continues to shoot Palestinians to death every day on their way to get food.

Israel kills children because Israelis say they must kill them or they will grow up to be Hamas.

Israelis are not like Americans.

A majority of Americans are disgusted by Israeli war crimes and their complete lack of empathy and humanity, much less freedom and equality.

The Democratic Party can no longer support DNC candidates who blindly arm the rogue, criminal, terrorist apartheid government of Israel.

World Health Organization CEO Cindy McCain explains the birds and bees of food distribution and human starvation to thick headed ABC NEWS George Stephanopoulos, who cannot grasp reality, cannot believe Israelis shot Palestinians to death while seeking food.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, quote, real starvation. President Trump speaks out on the hunger crisis in Gaza and distances, distances himself from the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as it begins to enter the enclave at least a bit of it.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is off today and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. President Trump has been meeting with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and in wide-ranging comments the men discuss the global crises unfolding this morning. The President gives Russia a new deadline in its war on Ukraine and both men call on a global response to try to alleviate the starvation crisis that is sweeping across Gaza. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've had the opportunity to talk about the situation in Gaza and the intolerable situation including images of starvation. And I think both of us know that we have to get to that ceasefire and we have to increase humanitarian aid in.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's great to hear you feel the same way that --

STARMER: Yes.

TRUMP: -- that we have to help on a humanitarian basis before we do anything we have to get the kids fed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is on the ground for us in Scotland. Jeff it's clear that this humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a key focus of their discussions that are unfolding now. What else can you tell us? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, if it absolutely was of course those images from Gaza are gripping the world and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer really was succinct in his language. He called it revolting. And he said it's revolting the British people and indeed the world. And one of his key points of meeting the American President here as he has effectively been on a mix of a golfing trip and a diplomatic trip was to press Donald Trump to increase the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a ceasefire. That was one of the overarching purposes of this meeting.

Now we watched live as this conversation unfolded at Trump Turnberry golf course for more than an hour. And that was one of the sharpest exchanges certainly. And the President, the American President, saying that he believes that Netanyahu must do more about this. But also Wolf an interesting rebuke. He said the images show starvation, starvation of children. He said you can't fake that.

Of course that comes directly in contradiction to what Netanyahu said over the weekend that he did not believe that some of these images were real. So clearly the prime minister trying to bring the President on board here to join the voices of so many to condemn but also to -- to bring action and food. And Donald Trump announced food centers. He said that will be a setup and noted that the Americans have already given some $60 million in food aid although he said it's an open question how much of it has actually reached the starving Gazans.

[11:05:15]

BLITZER: The President, Jeff, also demanded a lasting ceasefire in Russia's war against Ukraine. Tell us about that.

ZELENY: Wolf, that was also very striking. President Trump clearly voicing his frustration at Vladimir Putin. He had given him 50 days to effectively stop the war, stop the bombing on Ukraine. The bombing has only intensified. So the President changed his language and he said he will give 10 to 12 days before issuing a stark sanction and tariff. He explained it like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look I was tough on Putin because I was the one that closed up Nord Stream and Biden came along and opened it up. I was very tough on Putin in one way but we got along very well. And I -- I never, you know, I never really thought this would happen. I thought we'd be able to negotiate something and maybe that'll still happen but it's -- it's very late down the process. So I'm disappointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So the disappointment there is clear in the President's language but he promised of course that he could bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia war if he was elected president. That has absolutely not happened as we can see but definitely a major development there. If he holds to this 10 to 12 day deadline new sanctions could be coming soon. Wolf? BLITZER: We shall see. All right Jeff Zeleny thank you very, very much.

Also this morning the Palestinian Health Ministry says 14 people have died from starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in just the last 24 hours. Israel is now resuming what it's calling a tactical pause that opens routes for funneling aid into parts of the enclave.

International pressure is clearly building big time on the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who claims there is, quote, no hunger crisis or starvation in Gaza. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: There is no starvation in Gaza. We enable humanitarian throughout the duration of the war to enter Gaza, otherwise there would be no Gazans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: This morning, President Trump was asked if he believed the denials of a hunger crisis denials expressed by Netanyahu. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't know. I mean based on television I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry but we're giving a lot of money and a lot of food and other nations are now stepping up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to go to see it as Jeremy Diamond. He's on the ground for us in Jerusalem. Jeremy, so where do relief efforts stand today.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we are seeing a significant uptick in terms of the number of trucks getting into Gaza and also in terms of Israel lifting many of the restrictions that they have kept in place for months in Gaza that led us to this exact situation of starvation in the Gaza Strip. But much more still needs to be done according to United Nations officials in order to actually alleviate the starvation that is happening in Gaza.

We have now seen that the Israeli military is implementing these, quote, tactical pauses for 10 hours per day in three different areas of the Gaza Strip. That is facilitating it would seem, the United Nations efforts to pick up truckloads of aid that have crossed into the Gaza Strip and then be able to actually distribute them inside of Gaza. But we are still seeing that the number of trucks that are going into Gaza are still very, very small especially compared to the enormous need.

We know that yesterday about 120 truckloads of aid were delivered into the Gaza Strip. Many of those trucks however, Wolf, were indeed looted as crowds of thousands of hungry Palestinians crowded around those trucks and -- and ultimately looted them. It speaks of course to the desperation that we are seeing on the ground as the World Food Program now assesses that a quarter of Gaza's population is now experiencing famine like conditions.

The United Nations is welcoming these latest steps by the Israeli military to loosen some of these restrictions in Gaza that are facilitating the distribution of aid. But they say that it needs to continue going forward in order to ensure that the -- the thousands of trucks that are actually needed in Gaza actually get distributed. What is clear, Wolf, is that even as some of these restrictions are being lifted more people are continuing to die in Gaza and likely will continue to die in the coming days.

In just the last 24 hours 14 people have died of starvation. That brings us to 77 people who have died in Gaza of starvation just this month. Wolf?

[11:10:00]

BLITZER: And Jeremy before I let you go what can you tell us about this leading Israeli human rights group that is now accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza?

DIAMOND: Well, listen, Wolf, this is a very, very significant announcement because it comes from B'Tselem which is the leading human rights organization here in Israel. And after months of review of the available evidence not only of the impacts of Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip but also the statements that we have heard from Israeli leaders talking about the kind of annihilation of the -- of the population of Palestinians in Gaza.

They have concluded based on their assessment that Israel is committing a genocide in the Gaza Strip. They are not the first human rights organization to conclude that. We have heard similar statements in the past from Amnesty International for example which made a similar -- drew a similar conclusion last year. Israel of course categorically denies that it is committing a genocide in Gaza insisting that it is carrying out a legitimate military operation in the Gaza Strip that they say aligns with international law. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right Jeremy Diamond reporting from Jerusalem for us. Thank you very, very much.