President Donald Trump got into a shouting match with Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli prime minister denied that images of starving children in Gaza were real, according to NBC News.
Israel is building up troops as it prepares to possibly take full control of the Gaza Strip. The private phone conversation that devolved into the two leaders shouting at each other reportedly took place on July 28.
The tense discussion came amid U.S. concerns about the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a relief effort backed by the U.S. and Israel, several officials told the network.
On July 27, Netanyahu took part in an event in Jerusalem, claiming that “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza. And there is no starvation in Gaza.”
The following day, during his recent trip to Scotland, Trump pushed back, saying that he had seen pictures of children in Gaza who “look very hungry,” adding that the area is suffering from “real starvation” and “you can’t fake that.”
This prompted Netanyahu to demand a call with the president, and they were connected hours later, according to NBC News.
Netanyahu claimed during the call that there was no starvation in Gaza, arguing that Hamas had fabricated it. Trump interrupted and started shouting, saying that he didn’t want to hear the assertion that the starvation was fake, adding that his staff had shown him evidence that children are starving.
The prime minister’s office was quick to deny the claim that a shouting match had taken place.
“The report alleging that a shouting match occurred between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump is total fake news,” his office said in a statement on Friday.
“We do not comment on the President’s private conversations. President Trump is focused on returning all the hostages and getting the people in Gaza fed,” a White House spokesperson told NBC News.
A former U.S. official briefed on the call told the network that the call was “direct, mostly one-way conversation about the status of humanitarian aid.” Trump “was doing most of the talking.”
“The U.S. not only feels like the situation is dire, but they own it because of GHF,” the ex-official added in reference to the Gaza Humanitarian Fund.
The phone call led to special envoy Steve Witkoff travelling to the region to find a unified way forward.
The humanitarian fund has been operating in Gaza since May in designated distribution sites, some distance away from many Gazans in need of food. Large crowds have congregated near these sites, and Israeli troops have at times fired upon them. As of late last month, more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed while trying to get food, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has stated.
The U.N. has boycotted the GHF and has operated its own network of aid distributors in the Gaza Strip.
Witkoss asked the Israelis if the relief efforts currently in place are sufficient or if they need to expand, according to NBC News.
Trump was asked Tuesday if he would back Israel occupying Gaza, to which the president said he was focused on getting food to people in the area. About the possible military occupation, he said, “I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel.”
