WASHINGTON – As the Gaza Strip tips into famine and images of starving children trigger new demands for action, US President Donald Trump faces a test all too familiar to his predecessors.

Time after time, American presidents have found themselves watching suffering in faraway countries with the knowledge that they could act to save innocent lives.

Images of death and misery in places such as the Balkans, Rwanda, Darfur and Syria, to name a few, haunted their consciences – sometimes moving them to act, but often leading to excuses.

The desperation in Gaza has emerged as such a test for Mr Trump. By his own account, images of malnourished Palestinians in the war-ravaged enclave have disturbed him enough to take action.

“I mean, some of those kids are – that’s real starvation stuff,” Mr Trump said in Scotland on July 28. “I see it, and you can’t fake it. So we’re going to be even more involved.”

It was unclear what Mr Trump meant by getting “more involved”. Days earlier, he had withdrawn his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, from talks between Israel and Hamas in pursuit of a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza.

Mr Witkoff travelled to Israel on July 31 to discuss Gaza

Mr Witkoff’s change of plans comes as aid groups say hunger in Gaza is reaching crisis levels.

One UN-affiliated group said in a report this week that a worst-case famine scenario is unfolding, and Gaza health officials say that dozens of Palestinians, including children, have died of starvation in recent weeks.

Those grim facts have been driven home by gut-wrenching images of skeletal toddlers and p...