As Gaza’s roughly 2 million people face starvation amid an ongoing Israeli onslaught, the latest U.S. and Israel-backed aid operation is failing to address the man-made humanitarian catastrophe. Unfortunately, yet unsurprisingly, this nightmare is by design. Just as former U.S. President Joe Biden used his ill-fated pier operation to shield Israel from global criticism, the Trump administration is utilizing the same approach today in its backing of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The GHF began aid distribution on May 26, following nearly three months of an Israeli-imposed blockade of all aid entering Gaza. That Israeli effort, alongside its broader military operation, produced the near-famine conditions now prevalent and worsening in the Strip. While Israel lifted its total siege on May 18 amid heavy global criticism, only a minimal number of aid trucks have entered Gaza. Israel collaborates with local armed gangs to prevent most aid transfers once they are within the Strip and to bolster its narrative of Hamas aid diversion.
The United Nations says there is no evidence of Hamas siphoning significant amounts of aid and has demanded evidence from Israel. Rather, Israel and the United States cynically use the aid siphoning argument to sideline the established UN system, arguing that the United Nations is complicit in supporting Hamas. This approach is the equivalent of holding Gaza’s entire population hostage, using food as a weapon of war to force aid agencies to bolster its narrative and desired aid approach.
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