WASHINGTON (OSV News) -- Amid growing concern from humanitarian organizations and Catholic leaders, including Pope Leo XIV, about a hunger crisis in Gaza, President Donald Trump acknowledged the crisis and said the U.S. would be "going to be even more involved" in the response.
Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, issued a statement July 31 commending Trump "for acknowledging that starvation is happening in Gaza, especially affecting children, and I urge him to demand the immediate expansion of humanitarian assistance through all channels in Gaza."
Trump said July 28 during a meeting with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Scotland that children in Gaza are suffering "real starvation."
"I see it, and you can't fake that," Trump said.
Trump's longtime ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that starvation is occurring in Gaza, an account contradicted by international humanitarian organizations.
Catholic Relief Services and its on-the-ground partners are among those trying to deliver aid to those in need.
Israel launched a blockade on aid to Gaza in March in an effort to pressure Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, which sparked the current war. CNN reported that on July 26, Israel's military announced that it would open corridors for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and pause combat operations in certain areas.
In a July 31 post on his social media website Truth Social, Trump said, "The fastest way to end the Humanitarian Crises in Gaza is for Hamas to SURRENDER AND RELEASE THE HOSTAGES!!!"
Bishop Zaidan, who heads the St. Louis-based Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, said in his statement, "As the world watches in horror the heart-rending images of starvation in Gaza, I call on Catholics and all men and women of good will to ardently pray for the alleviation of the suffering of the Gazan people -- a crisis already ranked as one of the worst humanitarian disasters of the 21st century."
Pope Leo, Bishop Zaidan added, "has often reiterated his 'heartfelt appeal for a ceasefire, for the release of hostages, and for the full respect for humanitarian law' in Gaza, and I add my voice and prayers to that of our Holy Father."
"Reflecting Christ's mandate in the Gospel to love one another, Pope Leo XIV's challenge to us is clear: 'We cannot pray to God as 'Father' and then be harsh and insensitive towards others. Instead, it is important to let ourselves be transformed by his goodness, his patience, his mercy, so that his face may be reflected in ours as in a mirror,'" he said.
