AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show in Gaza, where health officials say at least 14 Palestinians have starved to death over the past day, bringing the total to at least 147, including 88 children. Facing growing international pressure, Israel has allowed some additional aid into Gaza, including by airdrops, but the U.N. said it’s still just a, quote, “drop in the ocean” of what’s needed.

Israel also said it would pause attacks for periods of the day in parts of Gaza, but the death toll keeps climbing. Earlier today, Israeli forces opened fire at two food sites. On Sunday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and injured 54 who had gathered along an aid convoy route in central Gaza.

Earlier today, two leading Israeli human rights groups, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, issued reports accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Yuli Novak, the director of B’Tselem, said, quote, “What we see is a clear, intentional attack on civilians in order to destroy a group. I think every human being has to ask himself: what do you do in the face of genocide?” unquote.

On Sunday, Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya accused Israel of sabotaging ceasefire negotiations.

KHALIL AL-HAYYA: [translated] There is no point in continuing negotiations under blockade, extermination and starvation of our children, women and people in the Gaza Strip. The immediate and dignified entry of food and medications to our people is the real and serious expression of the viability of continuing negotiations.

AMY GOODMAN: This comes as officials in Gaza say more than 40,000 infants under 1 year old are at risk of a “slow death” due to a catastrophic shortage of baby formula. This is a Palestinian mother of six.

PALESTINIAN MOTHER: [translated] This child, who is 4 years old, should weigh 10 kilograms, but he currently weighs 7 kilos and 400 grams, the highest level of malnourishment. This other child, Yousef, before the war, he weighed 13 kilos. His weight was excellent despite his illness. Thirteen kilos for him was great. Now he is 9 kilos. He is a skeleton. He is more malnourished than his brother.

AMY GOODMAN: Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that there is starvation in Gaza.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a boldface lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza, and there is no starvation in Gaza.

AMY GOODMAN: For more, we go to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, where we’re joined by Eyad Amawi, a representative of the Gaza Relief Committee, a coordinator for local NGOs.

You have said the famine is worse than bombardment. Can you describe, Eyad, what’s happening on the ground right now?

EYAD AMAWI: Thank you for hosting me.

Yes, the rapid deterioration and the malnutrition, we’re now suffering from the acute malnutrition for our children especially and elderly people. Look, our indicators is very bad and rapidly decreasing the hope for saving children’s lives. In June 2025, our statistics indicates that for more than 15 percentage of our children under 5 years old is suffering from acute malnutrition. So this is a rapid deterioration, and we cannot — it’s unbearable for us to save their lives, as the mothers before a while mentioned. The baby formula also the main struggle issue here in Gaza for most of our babies under the 2 years old.

So, in my thoughts, when I mention it’s more aggressive than the bombardment, because it’s caused the deaths rapidly for especially children and elderly people who are suffering from chronic disease and need special nutrition. You can imagine our families here just survive over one meal maybe a day, and most of our adults reduces their portion of the food to feed their children. So, the famine is also aggression more the bombardments and will cause a huge amount of children rapidly lose their life. So, the main category is now to save the children. In our statistics, we recorded that more than 5,000 babies were suffering from acute malnutrition. This percentage is more than 150 percentage from the previous March.

AMY GOODMAN: So, Israel says it’s implementing humanitarian pauses, pauses of bombing, in densely populated areas. Yet we have reports. On Sunday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, injured 54, who had gathered along an aid convoy route in central Gaza. That’s something that has been happening regularly over the past months. Can you explain what’s happening on the ground?

EYAD AMAWI: Of course. Look, the GHF warehouses, I mentioned before, is a death trap. Yesterday, the Israeli occupation announced the truce for the humanitarian corridor and some operations for aid distributions. The people there still waiting, crowded, thousands and thousands, in the cross area and at the GHF warehouses and everywhere in the eastern part of the Gaza Strip. It’s sited in the red zone that the Israelis mentioned this is a truce. When they achieved that region, they randomly shooting people in the Netzarim Corridor also, where the people are still waiting there, and caused more than 14 martyrs and more than 50 casualties, most of them seriously injured.

So, over the ground, nothing tangibly changed from before, after the Israel announced the ceasefire temporarily for aid and distribution of aid. And also, the amount of foods they let come into the Gaza, it completely will not change the catastrophe here, because it’s very less, more than our daily needs here.

AMY GOODMAN: As we’re broadcasting, we’ve just heard that President Trump, who was asked by journalists at a news conference in Scotland if he agrees with the Israeli government’s assessment that there’s no starvation in Gaza, Trump replied, “Not particularly.” He said he’s seen them on TV, and those children look very hungry. The U.S. president added that the U.S. is giving a lot of money to support the aid effort in Gaza. He recently was interviewed and said the U.S. had given $60 million in aid. “Where was the 'thank you'?” he asked. Eyad Amawi, if you can talk about what’s getting out there, and your response to President Trump?

EYAD AMAWI: Look, Mr. President Trump promises Gazans multiple times, more than 20 times, he needs a peace for us, and he will bring a peace. But in our thoughts as locals and as NGOs coordinator, Trump’s mentioned that multiple times, but nothing tangible happened after each statement from the President Trump. So, in our thoughts, it’s just statements, but if they need a critical and to stop this genocide, we believe they can do urgently direct interventions and stop the genocide and pauses the catastrophe and force the Israelis to let the aids come in freely, without Israeli restrictions.

And if Mr. Trump needs to know is there a real famine here, please let the international journalists come to the Gaza freely, and remove the ban over the journalists from the international community, and those people can reflect also the reality. As NGOs coordinators, I mentioned multiple times we have no time to wait new political statements. We’re sending more than one human appeal to save our children’s life. Gaza completely is destroyed. Nothing here exists to stand in this circumstances. Mr. Trump must recognize at from the day, maybe we have no any amount of sweet waters, because the full ban for the fuel to come into the Gaza freely caused the suspension for the water desalination station here.

So, until this moment, nothing could change, just the statements in the media. So, we hope. We hope something will change directly. And we’re sending another human appeal for the international community to do interventions urgently and to open a real humanitarian corridor, not the airdrops. It’s not caused any tangible things here.

AMY GOODMAN: And so, what has been the policy change exactly? I mean, you have the GHF. They shut down all the other aid sites. The U.N. had an extensive aid sites of, what, hundreds, where they distributed. That was shut down. Now they’re allowing in what the U.N. calls a “drop in the ocean.” What would it require for you, for people to be fed there? And can you talk about the — what you think the hopes are of a ceasefire, actually a permanent ceasefire?

EYAD AMAWI: That’s great questions. Look, at the main point, after the truce was mentioned from the Israeli side, we need a complete commitment from the Israeli occupation. After that, they let the numbers, more than 500 trucks, day by day, for more than two weeks to entering the Gaza freely. After that, we can break the famine and stop this horrible scenes that another can see. And also, if they need to complete stop this starvation, they can.

Look, the GHF warehouses is established at the south part of the Gaza Strip. They pushed most of us in the shrinked area, to the coastal area, just 30 square kilometers, and they need to feed us in this shrinked area. And there is no shelters. There is no guaranteed shelters also. And there is no available amount of trucks that can feed us freely without maybe facing threats day by day. You cannot imagine when the people is crowded over the trucks and agree, maybe have a lot of aggression between the civilians here. The GHF causes something like fabric collapsation in the society, because they force people to walk more than 15 kilometers to obtain some or seek some foods. It’s unbearable for the women and children and elderly people and who have a disability to move, to day by day to go to the GHF warehouses at Rafah. I know a lot of my peoples went there from the north and from the Gaza town. They walked more than 15 kilometers. That’s horrible scenes. They cause for those civilians suffering more and more. This is a collective punishment, really.

AMY GOODMAN: Eyad Amawi, I want to thank you very much for being with us, representative of the Gaza Relief Committee, coordinator for local NGOs, speaking to us from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

When we come back, for the second time in less than two months, Israeli forces have raided a civilian aid ship in international waters that were bound for Gaza with baby formula, diapers, food and medicine on board. We’ll speak with the flotilla organizer, Palestinian American human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf, just released from detention. Stay with us.

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AMY GOODMAN: “I Keep Faith” by Billy Bragg in our Democracy Now! studio.