ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Updated:

Several Republican lawmakers are split on the issue of the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in recent days, after US President Donald Trump said on Monday that many people were starving in Gaza and suggested Israel could do more on humanitarian access. 

Trump said Israel bears responsibility for the distribution of aid, and that a lot of people could be saved. "You have a lot of starving people," he said during a visit to Scotland.

On one side, US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), said, "It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and starvation happening in Gaza."

"A Jewish US Representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful. His awful statement will actually cause more antisemitism," she added, addressing Representative Randy Fine (R-FL), who blamed Hamas for the suffering in Gaza.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attends a press conference alongside fellow Republicans following the passage of the Secure the Border Act, HR-2, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 11, 2023.
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) attends a press conference alongside fellow Republicans following the passage of the Secure the Border Act, HR-2, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 11, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN)

Fine wrote in a post to X/Twitter on Friday, "You don't get to start a genocidal war - raping and killing as many men, women, and children as you can - and then whine and complain when you start losing."

Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) also solely blamed Hamas, saying, “If they would let the hostages go, they’d get a lot more food.”

Support for eliminating Hamas and providing aid to Gaza

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said that he supports any additional aid efforts in Gaza as long as they do not bolster Hamas.

Representative Lance Gooden (R-TX) pushed for the elimination of Hamas in Gaza, while calling for increased aid to enter the enclave.

"Standing with Israel means eliminating every barbaric Hamas terrorist. It also means rejecting the killing and starvation of children in Gaza. We must allow aid to enter Gaza. Ending this hunger crisis will not only spare the lives of children but will strip Hamas of its ability to use innocent children as pawns in their depraved acts of barbarism."

However, Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR)  argued that Israel has no responsibility to provide aid for Gaza. "They are repeatedly held to a different standard than the rest of the world," he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.