Human rights advocates across the world are sounding the alarm on the starvation crisis in Gaza.
Two prominent Israeli rights groups on Monday said their country is committing genocide in Gaza, the first time that local Jewish-led organizations have made such accusations against Israel during nearly 22 months of war.
CAIR MN Executive Director Jaylani Hussein says countless lives have been lost just in the last few weeks due to a lack of food in the area. Deaths, Hussein says, are disproportionately impacting women and children.
"What we hope today is for people to know that the genocide is now really at a point of incredible loss due to starvation," Hussein said. "This has been ongoing on for nearly two years, and what we are seeing now is food being used as a tool of war."
The genocide claims by B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel add to an explosive debate over whether Israel’s military offensive in Gaza — launched in response to Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostage — amounts to genocide.
The Palestinians, their supporters and international human rights groups make that claim, and the International Court of Justice is hearing a genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel.
Hussein says with aid systems collapsed, local leaders and grieving families will be gathering later Monday to demand that U.S. leadership and Minnesota's congressional leaders intervene to prevent further deaths.
"The death tolls are gonna increase, and anytime there is starvation, the most vulnerable people are impacted," Hussein added. "These are usually toddlers, infants, women, and others who are injured, who oftentimes cannot be nutrition-deficient, and that's what we're seeing from the ground."
But in Israel, founded in the wake of the Holocaust, even the government’s strongest critics have largely refrained from making such accusations.
That’s because of the deep sensitivities and strong memories of the Nazi genocide of Europe’s Jews, and because many in Israel view the war in Gaza as a justified response to the deadliest attack in the country’s history and not an attempt at extermination.
Also on Monday, President Donald Trump used his luxury golf course on Scotland's southeastern coast to host British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, mixing critical discussions on the deepening food crisis in Gaza, Russia's war in Ukraine and tariff rates with boasts about the property's opulence.
Trump at first was focused on complaining about the U.S. not having gotten enough credit for previously providing food aid. But he shifted tone when reporters questioned him about images of emaciated children from Gaza.
Asked if he agreed with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks about concerns of mass starvation in Gaza being overstated, he replied, “I don’t know. I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly because those children look very hungry.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer immediately was far more forceful: “I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they are seeing on their screens.”
The president later Israel shifted his tone dramatically and suggested a major recalibration of U.S. policy toward the territory. He said Israel “has a lot of responsibility” for what’s happening but is hampered by what its actions might mean for the prospects of Israeli hostages Hamas has been holding since it attacked Israel in 2023.
“I think Israel can do a lot,” Trump said. He added that when next speaking to Netanyahu, he’d insist, “I want them to make sure they get the food,” noting that the U.S. and others are giving money and food to Gaza and that Netanyahu has “got to, sort of, like, run it.”
“I want him to make sure they get the food,” Trump said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.