Trump Blasts Genocide Claims: “Hamas Starves Gaza, Not Israel”

By: Fern Sidman

President Donald Trump on Sunday night forcefully rejected accusations that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, instead reiterating that the war was precipitated by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre and that humanitarian suffering in the enclave stems directly from the terrorist group’s conduct.

Speaking to reporters during a campaign stop in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the president was asked directly whether there is evidence supporting allegations of genocide against Israel. According to a report that appeared on The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) website, Trump dismissed the charge as unfounded, emphasizing that Israel is engaged in a defensive war following one of the bloodiest terrorist assaults in modern history.

“Look, they’re in a war there. Some horrible things happened on October 7. As you know, it was a horrible, horrible thing; one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” Trump told reporters. “I’ve seen a lot of bad things since I’m president, in terms of wars and potential wars.”

JNS reported that Trump placed a sharp focus on the singular brutality of Hamas’s October 7 attack, in which approximately 1,200 people were brutally murdered and more than 250 hostages were forcibly taken into Gaza. The president contrasted the atrocities with other regional conflicts, even referencing recent violence between Thailand and Cambodia, which has already resulted in thousands of deaths.

“But October 7 with Hamas was really, really bad,” Trump said, stressing that Israel’s military campaign must be understood in light of that massacre.

Despite his unequivocal rejection of genocide allegations, Trump highlighted that his administration is committed to alleviating civilian suffering in Gaza. As reported by JNS, the president said the United States has been at the forefront of efforts to provide food aid.

“We’re the only country that’s really doing that. We’re putting up money to get the people fed. And [Mideast envoy] Steve Witkoff is doing a great job, and we want Israel to get them fed. We’re giving some pretty big contributions, basically to purchase food,” Trump stated.

“We don’t want people going hungry; we don’t want people to starve,” he added, describing humanitarian relief as a moral obligation even while Israel wages war against Hamas.

According to the information provided in the JNS report, Trump’s comments reflect the administration’s dual strategy: maintaining unwavering support for Israel’s security while working to prevent widespread hunger and humanitarian collapse in Gaza.

Echoing the president’s stance, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also rejected allegations of genocide in a televised interview on Fox News’ “Life, Liberty & Levin.”

“If Israel is committing genocide, they are really bad at it. They’re terrible at doing genocide,” Huckabee declared, according to the report at JNS.

Huckabee’s remarks, delivered in a characteristically blunt tone, highlighted the fact that despite months of war, Gaza’s population has not been annihilated but continues to receive aid, much of it facilitated by Israel itself. He stressed that the real cause of suffering is Hamas, which continues to control the Strip, hoard supplies, and exploit civilians as human shields.

“There is one reason they are suffering in Gaza … it’s because of Hamas,” Huckabee said. “They are a terror organization and they’ve acted like it.”

Both Huckabee and host Mark Levin sharply criticized international media coverage, singling out The New York Times for spreading outrageously misleading and patently false narratives. According to the information contained in the JNS report, the ambassador and Levin accused global outlets of circulating imagery of malnourished children and destruction in Gaza without acknowledging Hamas’s deliberate theft of humanitarian aid or its use of civilians to shield fighters and weapons stockpiles.

This critique reflects a broader frustration within the Trump administration and among pro-Israel advocates that much of the Western press has amplified Hamas’s propaganda while minimizing or ignoring the terror group’s culpability. The JNS report noted that this frustration has only intensified as global calls for Israel to be investigated for genocide have grown louder in forums such as the United Nations.

Hamas has repeatedly accused Israel of deliberately starving Gaza’s civilians, but Israel strongly denies the claim. Israeli officials argue that Hamas itself is responsible for food insecurity by diverting shipments, looting warehouses, and using aid for its military infrastructure rather than distributing it to civilians.

Former hostages have also testified that Hamas fighters ate well during captivity while Israeli abductees were systematically starved — a detail that Israeli leaders and media have pointed to as further evidence of Hamas’s manipulative use of food as both a weapon and a propaganda tool.

Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have consistently stressed that Israel facilitates the entry of thousands of aid trucks but cannot ensure distribution once the supplies enter Hamas-controlled areas.

Trump’s comments, as covered by JNS, highlight the balance his administration seeks to strike: unequivocal backing for Israel’s right to self-defense and the elimination of Hamas on the one hand, and humanitarian relief for civilians on the other.

This approach mirrors longstanding U.S. policy in Middle Eastern conflicts, but Trump’s framing — linking aid directly to America’s role as Israel’s principal ally — suggests a political calculation as well.

His emphatic rejection of genocide allegations also reflects his broader foreign policy posture: resisting international narratives he views as biased against Israel and insisting that Hamas, rather than the Israeli government, bears responsibility for the humanitarian crisis.

As accusations of genocide against Israel continue to circulate in international forums, the Trump administration has delivered a unified message of rejection. President Trump’s comments in Allentown, paired with Ambassador Huckabee’s emphatic remarks on Fox News, underscore Washington’s determination to shield Israel from totally unjustified and politically motivated charges.

According to the JNS report, the administration is committed to two parallel tracks: backing Israel militarily and diplomatically, while providing humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza. Yet officials remain firm that ultimate responsibility lies with Hamas — both for the October 7 atrocities and for the suffering of Palestinians in the enclave.

As Huckabee put it succinctly, “There is one reason they are suffering in Gaza … it’s because of Hamas.”