(MENAFN- Gulf Times) British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump agreed Monday that urgent action was needed to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza, according to a statement issued by Starmer's office after their meeting in Scotland.
"The leaders began by discussing the appalling scenes in Gaza and agreed that urgent action was needed to bring an end to the suffering, which has reached new depths," the statement said.
"Humanitarian aid had to be allowed in at scale and pace. They committed to work together to bring an end to the misery and starvation and continue to press for the immediate release of the remaining hostages.
"The leaders also reiterated their calls for an immediate ceasefire to pave the way for peace in the region."
Trump said Monday many people were starving in Gaza and suggested Israel could do more on humanitarian access, as Palestinians struggled to feed their children a day after Israel declared steps to improve supplies.
As the death toll from two years of war in Gaza nears 60,000, a growing number of people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Gaza health authorities say, with images of starving children shocking the world and fuelling international criticism of Israel over sharply worsening conditions.
Describing starvation in Gaza as real, Trump's assessment put him at odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said on Sunday "there is no starvation in Gaza" and vowed to fight on against the Palestinian resistance group Hamas - a statement he reposted on X Monday.
Trump, speaking during a visit to Scotland, said Israel has a lot of responsibility for aid flows, and that a lot of people could be saved. "You have a lot of starving people," he said.
"We're going to set up food centres," with no fences or boundaries to ease access, Trump said. The US would work with other countries to provide more humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, including food and sanitation, he said.
On Monday, the Gaza health ministry said at least 14 people had died in the past 24 hours of starvation and malnutrition, bringing the war's death toll from hunger to 147, including 88 children, most in just the last few weeks.
Israel announced several measures over the weekend, including daily humanitarian pauses to fighting in three areas of Gaza, new safe corridors for aid convoys, and airdrops. The decision followed the collapse of ceasefire talks on Friday.
Two Israeli defence officials said the international pressure prompted the new Israeli measures, as did the worsening conditions on the ground.
UN agencies said a long-term and steady supply of aid was needed. The World Food Programme said 60 trucks of aid had been dispatched - short of target. Almost 470,000 people in Gaza are enduring famine-like conditions, with 90,000 women and children in need of specialist nutrition treatments, it said.
"Our target at the moment, every day is to get 100 trucks into Gaza," WFP Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Samer AbdelJaber, said.
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the situation is catastrophic.
"At this time, children are dying every single day from starvation, from preventable disease. So time has run out."
The Gaza health ministry said that 98 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the past 24 hours.
Some of the trucks that made it into Gaza were seized by desperate Palestinians, and some by armed looters, witnesses said.
The WFP said it has 170,000 metric tonnes of food in the region, outside Gaza, which would be enough to feed the whole population for the next three months if it gets the clearance to bring into the enclave.
Israel said more than 120 truckloads of aid were distributed in Gaza on Sunday by the UN and international organizations.

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