AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The World Health Organization says 63 people have died in Gaza from hunger this month alone. Two dozen of them are children under the age of 5, with signs of severe wasting, their bones protruding through their skin. Israel is facing calls to let more food into Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that there is, quote, "no starvation." Though today, President Trump had this to say.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That's real starvation stuff. I see it. And you can't fake that, so we're going to be even more involved.
CHANG: Trump says that the U.S. will help set up food centers in Gaza, alongside the U.K. and countries in Europe, but he didn't offer more specifics. We're joined now by NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy for the latest. Hi, Aya.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: So just make it clearer to us, what is the situation inside Gaza? What is happening there right now?
BATRAWY: Simply put, there is not enough food reaching people in Gaza. A third of the population is going days without eating anything according to aid groups on the ground like UNICEF, and others are eating one meal a day, maybe of watery lentils. So faced with growing international criticism, Israel yesterday allowed in some more aid trucks, but nearly all of that food - most of it just flour from the U.N. - was looted by armed gangs, according to the U.N. and NPR's reporting. And some of those gangs Israel has openly backed to undermine Hamas. Some of it also was taken by hungry crowds. It did not reach warehouses or get distributed according to the U.N. and our own reporting.
There were also some airdrops of aid, but that's a fraction of what a truck can actually bring in. Now, Israel's prime minister says his government will continue allowing the entry of, quote, "minimal humanitarian aid to achieve its war aims," but U.N. agencies and countries around the world are insisting Israel let more food into Gaza. They say hundreds of trucks are needed a day.
CHANG: What about views of people inside Israel? I mean, are views shifting there as people are seeing these images of starving children pouring out of Gaza?
BATRAWY: You know, Ailsa, to date, most protests against the war in Israel have been focused on freeing hostages. But for the first time in the war, two Israeli human rights groups today called what's happening in Gaza a genocide. They join other international human rights groups and experts and a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of the crime of genocide in Gaza. Israel strongly denies these accusations. It says its troops do not deliberately kill civilians. It blames Hamas for the war. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel - the two Israeli groups calling this a genocide today - note the, quote, "destruction and annihilation" of Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas in 2023 on Israel. B'Tselem called its report, quote, "Our Genocide," with the death toll about to hit 60,000 people killed in the war, according to Gaza's health ministry.
But also Ailsa, today, the presidents of five universities in Israel, including Tel Aviv University and the Weitzman Institute, published an open letter to Israel's prime minister. Now, in it, they said they are watching with horror the images of infants dying of hunger in Gaza every day, and they say that as people who were victims of the Holocaust in Europe, we have a special duty to prevent harm to innocent men, women and children. These Israeli university presidents called on Netanyahu to ease the suffering in Gaza and to condemn statements by ministers in his own government who have called for the destruction of Gaza and the expulsion of people from the land.
CHANG: Well, Israel's government continues to insist that there is no starvation in Gaza, but as we've heard, the pressure is mounting. So let me ask you, what other forms of international pressure is Israel facing at this moment?
BATRAWY: Well, today, France and Saudi Arabia cochaired a conference at the U.N. on the two-state solution, where Israel and a Palestinian state would exist side by side. Now, this was all speeches and largely a symbolic show of global support for two states, but it comes after France announced it would recognize a Palestinian state soon. Now, the U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said a two-state solution is more remote now than ever. But he said, you know, look, he spoke out against annexation of the West Bank. That's happening more and more. He said - he spoke out against what's happening in Gaza, but he said, these realities are why a two-state solution has to be realized. Now, the conference was not attended by Israel and the U.S., and Israel's ambassador to the U.N. called it an illusion, one that does not promote a solution, and said the organizers are disconnected from reality.
CHANG: That is NPR's Aya Batrawy. Thank you, Aya.
BATRAWY: Thank you, Ailsa. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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