Скачать или смотреть How Israel's restrictions on aid put Gaza on the brink of famine

JERUSALEM — On Saturday, the United States airdropped 38,000 meals into Gaza — a territory controlled not by a hostile foreign power but by one of its closest allies. The remarkable scenes of American aid bundles floating down to starving Palestinians was the starkest illustration yet of the rift that has grown between the Biden administration and the Israeli government over the Gaza war. For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Washington to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave, even as it relies on U. S. bombs and diplomatic support to carry out its punishing military campaign there. Thursday’s aid convoy tragedy — where more than 100 people were killed and 700 injured in Gaza City, according to Palestinian officials — underscored the desperation of civilians in the strip, which is hurtling toward a famine that humanitarian officials say is largely of Israel’s making. They point to Israel’s limiting of land entry points for aid; an onerous and confusing Israeli inspection process; faulty deconfliction channels between aid groups and Israel’s military; Israeli efforts to undermine the United Nations; and its military’s recent targeting of Gaza police who once protected aid missions. Israel says it is not limiting the delivery of aid to Gaza and has blamed the U. N. for failing to distribute it to those in need — or worse, diverting aid to Hamas. But Washington is growing impatient with those arguments.“We’re going to insist that Israel facilitate more trucks and more routes to get more and more people the help they need,” President Biden said Friday as he announced the aid drops. “No excuses, because the truth is, aid flowing to Gaza is nowhere nearly enough.”Around 500 trucks entered Gaza each day before the war, a figure that aid agencies have not come close to reaching since the start of the conflict. In February, just 98 trucks per day crossed into Gaza on average, according to the U. N., compared to an average of 170 per day in January. On several days last month, the number of trucks was in the single digits. Allegations that Israel is deliberately obstructing the entry of aid into Gaza are at the heart of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. The court in The Hague has not ruled on the question of genocide, but in late January it ordered Israel to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian aid.”Yet hardly any assistance has reached the north, where some families are surviving on grass and animal feed. At least 15 children have died from malnutrition, according to local health authorities.“What’s absolutely amazing is how quickly the situation has unfolded, in a place which before has never really encountered hunger,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the U. N. body for Palestinian refugees, told reporters in Jerusalem on Thursday.


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