EDINBURGH, July 28: Israeli strikes killed at least 34 Palestinians before US President Donald Trump met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, where they confirmed plans to discuss Gaza. Israel eased aid restrictions due to a worsening humanitarian crisis, and Trump said he disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement that there was no starvation in Gaza. Israel announced a pause in military operations in certain areas for 10 hours daily to improve aid flow. Aid agencies welcomed the new measures but say they are insufficient.
Two planes from the Jordanian and UAE Air Force airdropped 17 tons of humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday, as hunger continues to soar across the strip. The airdrops took place for the second day as Israel faces increasing pressure over Gaza’s humanitarian crisis. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, warned that airdrops are “expensive, inefficient, and can even kill starving civilians.” The 17 tons of airdropped aid amounts to less than one aid truck carrying food, based on the World Food Programme’s calculation of nearly 19 tons per truck.
Palestinian residents of the Christian village of Taybeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank say Israeli settlers torched two cars and left graffiti overnight. The Israeli military said it sent forces to the village after receiving a report that suspects had set fire to Palestinian property. The West Bank has seen a rise in settler violence since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza triggered the war there.
UK leader Keir Starmer plans to discuss a UK-led peace plan for Gaza with Trump in Scotland. Starmer’s spokesman, Dave Pares, said Britain supports Trump’s efforts to reach a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, and the plan aims “to turn a ceasefire into lasting peace.” Starmer will discuss it with allies “including the US and Arab states” and at an emergency meeting of his Cabinet later this week.
Trump disagrees with Netanyahu’s claim there is no starvation in Gaza, saying that based on television, he would say not particularly because those children look very hungry. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi called on Trump to help stop the war in Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid to the strip’s desperate population. (AP)
