Ignoring warnings from aid agencies and experts, failing to pressure Israel to allow humanitarian access
In a startling revelation, the Biden administration stands accused of complicity in enabling a famine in the Gaza Strip by failing to act on repeated warnings from its own experts and aid agencies, and neglecting to use its leverage to persuade its ally Israel to allow sufficient humanitarian aid into the besieged territory.
Interviews with current and former officials from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department, as well as aid agencies working in Gaza, paint a disturbing picture of an administration that turned a blind eye to the unfolding crisis. Internal USAID documents further corroborate these claims, revealing that the administration rejected or ignored pleas to pressure Israel — the recipient of billions of dollars in US military support — to facilitate the delivery of vital aid to prevent a famine from taking hold in Gaza.
“The situation in Gaza has been deteriorating for years, but the warnings from our own people on the ground were explicit: a famine was imminent if we didn’t take immediate action,” said a former senior USAID official who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Yet the administration chose to do nothing, effectively giving Israel a green light to continue its suffocating blockade.”
The blockade, imposed by Israel in 2007 after Hamas took control of Gaza, has severely restricted the movement of goods and people in and out of the territory, crippling the local economy and exacerbating an already dire humanitarian situation. According to the United Nations, over two-thirds of Gaza’s population relies on aid to survive, with unemployment rates hovering around 50%.
Aid agencies working in Gaza have long warned that the blockade, combined with periodic military offensives by Israel, has pushed the territory to the brink of a full-blown humanitarian catastrophe. “We’ve been sounding the alarm for years, but our pleas for action have fallen on deaf ears in Washington,” said a representative from Oxfam International, one of the organizations operating in Gaza.
Diplomatic Cover
The former USAID officials say the Biden administration not only ignored their warnings but also provided diplomatic cover for Israel to create the conditions for famine by blocking international efforts to bring about a ceasefire or alleviate the crisis, making the delivery of aid almost impossible.
“The administration had the power to pressure Israel to lift the blockade and allow aid to flow into Gaza, but they chose not to use it,” said another former official. “Instead, they stood by and watched as the situation deteriorated to the point where a famine became a very real possibility.”
Critics argue that the Biden administration’s inaction is a betrayal of its stated commitment to human rights and humanitarian principles, and a stark departure from its campaign promises to restore US leadership on the global stage. “This is a stain on America’s conscience,” said a prominent human rights activist. “By turning a blind eye to the suffering in Gaza, the administration has become complicit in enabling a man-made humanitarian disaster of catastrophic proportions.”
The White House has yet to respond to the allegations, but the mounting evidence suggests that the administration’s failure to act in the face of clear warnings and pleas from its own experts and aid agencies has put the lives of millions of Palestinians in Gaza at risk.
As the crisis deepens, aid agencies and human rights organizations are calling on the Biden administration to take immediate action to pressure Israel to lift the blockade and allow unfettered access for humanitarian aid. “It’s not too late to avert a famine, but time is running out,” said the Oxfam representative. “The lives of countless innocent civilians hang in the balance.”
