Secretary of State Marco Rubio informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that President Donald Trump has become “concerned” about the Palestinians in Gaza. In March, Tel Aviv imposed a total blockade on all goods and aid entering the Strip, leading to widespread starvation.
Axios reporter and IDF veteran Barak Ravid posted to X on Thursday, “US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke by phone with Prime Minister Netanyahu and told him that the Trump administration is concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
Tel Aviv is responsible for the mass suffering in Gaza as the IDF is preventing all food, fuel, and medicine from entering the territory. At least scores of children have starved to death over the past two weeks.
Israel has also stepped up attacks on Gaza’s already partially destroyed hospital network. Earlier this week, Tel Aviv admitted to dropping nine bunker-busting bombs on or near the European Hospital in southern Gaza in an attempt to kill a single Hamas member.
On Friday, Trump told reporters while in the UAE, “We’re looking at Gaza, and we got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.” He added, “A lot of people. There’s a lot of bad things going on.”
The previous day, Trump restated his plan to have American forces take over Gaza and turn the Strip into a “freedom zone.”
“I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good: Make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved, and make it just a freedom zone,” the president said. “I’d be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone, let some good things happen. Put people in homes where they can be safe, and Hamas is going to have to be dealt with.”
Trump floated a similar proposal earlier in his administration. At the time, he said the Palestinians would be removed from the Strip and sent to live in refugee cities in third countries.
That plan is in line with what has been proposed in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu recently said that even if Hamas released its remaining Israeli hostages, the IDF would continue operations in Gaza and at least 50% of Palestinians would be forced from their homeland.
Following the Netanyahu call with Rubio, Israel unleashed a massive assault on northern Gaza. On Friday, sources in Gaza said at least 100 Palestinians had been killed over the previous 24-hour period. Some sources put the number as high as 250. The IDF said on Friday it had conducted over 150 strikes in the last day alone.
Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. He hosts The Kyle Anzalone Show and is co-host of Conflicts of Interest with Connor Freeman.
