Donald Trump admits 'real starvation' happening in Gaza in meeting with UK leader

US President Donald Trump has admitted for the first time that children in Gaza are suffering "real starvation", amid mounting international criticism of Israel's actions in the strip.

The situation in Gaza dominated an hour-long press conference between Mr Trump and the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland, in which the US President gave an assessment that was at odds with that of Israel's leaders. In unusually strong language, Mr Trump said he wanted to see children fed, in response to Mr Starmer's view that there is “revulsion” at the images of emaciated infants.

Mr Trump added that “we’re giving a lot of money and a lot of food, and other nations are now stepping up. That’s real starvation stuff, I see it, and you can’t fake that,” Mr Trump said. “We have to get the kids fed.

Gazans say ‘strongest and most aggressive’ armed groups controlling aid

“Israel has a lot of responsibility” for addressing the crisis, Mr Trump added. “I want them to make sure they get the food.”

The US President also appeared to blame Iran for derailing ceasefire talks between Hamas and international mediators last week. “Iran has been sending out bad signals, I'll tell you, for a country that just got wiped out, they've been sending very bad signals, very nasty signals, and they shouldn't be doing that.”

US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. PA

He accused Iran’s Foreign Minster Abbas Araghchi of “saying things that he shouldn't be talking about” and said Iran “they got involved in this negotiation”.

The crisis in Gaza is a priority for the two leaders, but Mr Trump also made a surprise announcement that he had set new deadline of "10 to 12 days" for Russia to make a ceasefire deal in Ukraine, a significant reduction on the previous deadline of 50 days. Mr Trump added that he will make an official announcement on this "tonight or tomorrow".

Hostage shield

The US President said he was in touch with Benjamin Netanyahu about getting the remaining 20 Israeli hostages in Gaza released, but said it would be difficult to make a deal now that Hamas has only a few hostages left, because the group uses them as a “shield”.

“Hamas has become very difficult to deal with in the last couple of days, because they don't want to give up this last 20 because they think as long as they have them, they have protection,” he said. “I'm speaking to Bibi Netanyahu and we are coming up with various plans. If they didn't have the hostages, things would go very quickly but they do, and we know where they have them. When they give them up, they no longer have a shield.”

Mr Trump said he told the Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu that the fight in Gaza against Hamas would have to be conducted in a different way after the latest talks on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement fell apart last week. "I told Bibi that you have to maybe do it a different way," Mr Trump said. "A ceasefire is possible, but you have to get it, you have to end it."

Plan for peace

UK officials said Mr Starmer had developed a plan for peace in Gaza that prioritised immediate deliveries of humanitarian aid as well as charting a path to a two-state solution. "It's a humanitarian crisis, right?" he said. "It's an absolute catastrophe. I think people in Britain are revolted at seeing what they're seeing on their screen."

Speaking in the ballroom of the Turnberry golf hotel in Scotland, where he is on a private trip to his courses, Mr Trump said the US would spearhead efforts to increase aid to Gaza. He said the UK and other European countries would join in provide aid to Gaza “so we're going to set up food centres where people can walk in with no boundaries,” he said. “We're not going to have fences.”

The US had to “take care of the humanitarian needs on what they used to call the Gaza Strip” he said, adding that the US had “trillions of dollars” to spend, with some of it on food.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria are greeted by US President Donald Trump. PA

Mr Starmer hopes to promote a UK-led plan “in the coming days” with his cabinet and with other international allies, including Arab states. The Prime Minister's spokesman added that it was a matter of “when, not if” the UK recognises a Palestinian state, but said it must be one step on a pathway to peace.

The pair met at Mr Trump's luxury golf resort in Turnberry, on Scotland's west coast, before travelling on together later to a second championship estate owned by Trump in the east, near Aberdeen.

Hundreds of police officers guarded the perimeter of the Turnberry course and the nearby beach, with a helicopter hovering overhead, although there was no sign of protesters outside the course.

Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.