After demanding for months that Israel let more supplies enter the Gaza Strip, the Biden administration did a 180 Wednesday and now says Israel is not to blame. Metro Voice previously reported on the stolen food aid in May.
The admission may come too late as news outlets continue falsely reporting Israel is causing a pending “famine” in Gaza.
“Though Kerem Shalom is open and trucks are queued up outside, not a lot of them are getting in, and it’s not because of the Israelis,” White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said at a press briefing, reports JNS.org.
Kirby blamed the problem on looting by Gazan “criminal gangs and thugs.” He insisted the criminals were not connected to Hamas, although the U.S. has blamed Hamas in the past for stealing supplies, with the administration notably condemning the terrorist group for hijacking a large aid convoy from Jordan in May.
In pointing to gangs as the culprits, the White House also ignored Israeli reports of widespread theft by Hamas, which it says has been stealing up to 60% of the aid entering the Gaza Strip.
Israeli news outlet Channel 12 reported in May that Hamas had made at least $500 million in profit off such aid since the start of the war, turning around and selling it to the civilian population.
Admitted Kirby, “I’m not trying to pull—take Hamas off the hook here, because Hamas has, in fact, allowed some of this activity to go on and don’t have the best interests of the people of Gaza forefront in their minds.”
If the administration is no longer holding Israel responsible for the aid jam up, it would represent a shift in thinking. Less than two weeks ago, the State Department sanctioned an Israeli protest group for “harassing and damaging convoys” (something the group denies).
Israel has largely blamed the aid failure on the United Nations and has put forth substantial proof for its case. On Wednesday, COGAT, the Israeli body responsible for coordinating aid into Gaza, tweeted a picture of tons of aid waiting for pickup at the U.S.-built JLOTS (Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore) pier.
It noted that looting wasn’t the issue.
Appending the image to a U.N. World Food Program (WFP) report that 96% of Gaza “face[s] extreme levels of hunger,” COGAT asked: “what’s your excuse here, @wfp?”
“All this food (and more) is waiting at the offloading area of the JLOTS. There are no looting or security concerns, only a lack of motivation. To truly turn the corner, stop making excuses and start playing your role as a humanitarian food organization and the head of the logistic cluster. Lots needs to be done.”
–David Isaac | JNS.org | used with permission