But even though President Trump didn't manage to get a rise out of the South African president, that does not mean his efforts over more than an hour were in vain; they certainly were not.
The US confirmed last week that it was preparing a new system for providing aid from a series of hubs inside Gaza, which would be run by private companies and protected by security contractors and Israeli forces.Images analysed by BBC Verify show that land has already been cleared, with new roads and staging areas constructed at a number of locations in southern and central Gaza in recent weeks.
Israel has not publicly said where the hubs will be, but humanitarian sources - briefed previously by Israeli officials - told BBC Verify that at least four centres will be built in the southern section of Gaza and one further north near the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land controlled by the military that effectively divides the territory.The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation - an organisation set up to support the plan - initially said food, water and hygiene kits would be supplied to 1.2 million people, less than 60% of the population.On Wednesday it announced it would start operations before the end of May, and appeared to call for Israel to allow aid through normal channels until its distribution centres were fully operational. It also called for aid hubs to be built in northern Gaza, something not envisaged under the original plan and which had led to criticism that people would be forced to move south.
UN agencies have insisted they will not co-operate with the plan - which is in line with one previously approved by Israel's government - saying it contradicted fundamental humanitarian principles.A spokesperson for the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accused Israel of seeking to use "food and fuel as leverage, as part of a military strategy".
"All aid would be channelled through a handful of militarised hubs," Olga Cherevko told BBC Verify.
"That kind of arrangement would cut off vast areas of Gaza – particularly the most vulnerable, who can't move easily, or are otherwise marginalised – from any help at all.""While this is the first detection of West Nile Virus in mosquitoes in the UK so far, it is not unexpected as the virus is already widespread in Europe," said Dr Meera Chand, a deputy director for travel health and infections at UKHSA.
Dr Arran Folly, who led the project which found the virus, said its detection is part of a "wider changing landscape, where, in the wake of climate change mosquito-borne diseases are expanding to new areas".While the
mosquito is native to Britain, he added that warming temperatures may bring non-native species to the UK and, with them, the potential of infectious disease.Prof James Logan, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said the development was "serious" but there was no need for the public to be alarmed.