Netanyahu says report that he and Trump got into shouting match over Gaza aid is ‘fake news’
The alleged shouting match took place the same day Trump said there was ‘real starvation’ in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu poses with President Donald Trump at the White House, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo by Getty Images
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting an NBC News report that a recent conversation between him and President Donald Trump “devolved into shouting” on the issue of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
NBC reported that four sources characterized a July 28 phone call between the two leaders that way. That was the day Trump told reporters that he believed there was “real starvation” in Gaza, which Israel has denied, and said he was pressing Netanyahu to get more aid to hungry Gazans.
Trump did not immediately respond to the report, which came in a story published Thursday evening about Israel’s apparent preparations for further ground operations in Gaza. But Netanyahu’s office issued a firm denial.
“The report alleging that a shouting match occurred between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump is total fake news,” the office said in a statement.
In the intervening 10 days, Trump has continued to express concern about humanitarian conditions in Gaza but also has withheld any criticism about Netanyahu’s ambitions to widen the war there in an effort to defeat Hamas, which it has been battling since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He has also called on Hamas to “surrender.”
Speaking on Fox News on Thursday as he prepared to seek cabinet approval to “occupy” Gaza, Netanyahu said, “I think President Trump has been terrific. He’s supported us in so many ways. And he’s giving — he understands that we have to get rid of Hamas.” He stopped short of saying that Trump had given “a green light” to the offensive, instead saying, “He just says, ‘I know Israel will do what it has to do.’”
Netanyahu said he had not discussed his occupation plan with Trump but had talked about what he said was “the humanitarian surge that we’re going to do, which will precede our final military action.”
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