US President Donald Trump pledges more aid in Gaza, says Israel will have to ‘make a decision’ on next steps

US President Donald Trump has urged other nations to increase their aid to Gaza, emphasising that the challenges in the Middle East are a global issue.

Mr Trump said on Sunday that the United States would provide more aid for Gaza; however, he’d like to see more countries participate.

“It’s an international problem, it’s not a US problem,” he told reporters before meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.

“We’re giving a lot of money, a lot of food... if we weren’t there, I think people would have starved, frankly,” he added.

The US President added that it would be up to Israel to decide how to proceed in Gaza, noting that he was unsure what would happen following the breakdown of ceasefire and hostage-release talks with Hamas.

He underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza, saying they had suddenly “hardened” up on the issue.

“They don’t want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision,” Mr Trump told reporters.

The Gaza war was triggered by the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and had more than 250 taken hostage into Gaza.

Since then, nearly 60,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the health authority controlled by Hamas. These figures, which cannot be independently verified, do not distinguish between civilians and fighters but are considered largely reliable by UN organisations.

Against the backdrop of a looming hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip, large-scale aid deliveries have reached the besieged and embattled coastal area for the first time in months.

A convoy of some 100 lorries carrying goods for the suffering population entered the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom border crossing on Sunday, according to sources in the Palestinian territory.

A few hours earlier, the Israeli military announced that it would observe a daily self-declared “tactical pause in military activity for humanitarian purposes” in parts of the Gaza Strip from 10 am to 8 pm local time (1700-0300 AEST) until further notice.

The pause applies to al-Mawasi in the south-west of the coastal strip, Deir al-Balah in the centre and Gaza City in the north - areas where the Israeli army is not operating, it said.

Israel designated al-Mawasi as a “humanitarian zone” earlier in the war. However, the military has since attacked there multiple times, resulting in many deaths. Deir al-Balah is home to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) central warehouse, which the WHO said was damaged when Israeli ground troops first entered the area.

In addition, humanitarian corridors will be in place from 6am to 11pm local time to allow the UN and aid organisations to deliver food and medicine to the population in Gaza, the military said.

UN emergency relief coordinator Tom Fletcher welcomed the announcement by the Israeli military. “In contact with our teams on the ground who will do all we can to reach as many starving people as we can in this window,” he wrote on X.

The World Food Programme (WFP) declared on X: “@WFP has teams on the ground and enough food to reach people in need across the Gaza Strip at scale.”

“Now is the time to act,” WFP Director Cindy McCain wrote on X.

The UN children’s charity UNICEF welcomed the announcement by Israel of aid airdrops.

“This is an opportunity to begin to reverse this catastrophe and save lives,” UNICEF posted on X.

“Since the collapse of the ceasefire in March, children have been trapped in a nightmare and deprived of the basics to survive. They are hungry, traumatised and have no safe place to go.”

“The entire population of over 2 million people in Gaza is severely food insecure. One out of every three people has not eaten for days and 80 per cent of all reported deaths by starvation are children.”

Israel’s actions came in response to growing international criticism of its military operations in the Palestinian territory. Since Israel ended a ceasefire in March, only limited aid has reached the area.

The WHO recently warned of a deadly hunger crisis among the residents of the Gaza Strip. Israel denies the risk of a famine, instead describing it as a “campaign” by the Islamist group Hamas.

Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticised the resumption of larger aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, Mr Ben-Gvir described the move as a slap in the face for Israeli soldiers.

The delivery of humanitarian aid is tantamount to “keeping the enemy alive,” Mr Ben-Gvir also wrote.

- With DPA, Reuters