Following Monday's targeted killings of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers by the Israel Defense Forces, the White House and international media are reminding everyone that a significant shift in Israeli policy toward Palestinians in Gaza is taking place. I'm trying my best to convince you. . Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement on Friday that additional borders would be opened to deliver aid to the northern Gaza Strip, allowing temporary shipments of supplies from the Israeli port of Ashdod, comes after 2.3 million people It was widely reported as a new humanitarian effort to help starving Gazans.
In fact, the move is a face-saving gesture aimed at quelling an outpouring of popular anger around the world over Israel's barbaric war crimes, while also showing that American imperialism is a deterrent to the ongoing genocide. This makes it possible to forgive such a hypocritical attitude. Netanyahu's announcement was closely coordinated with Washington and came just hours after a phone conversation between Biden and Netanyahu. Media reports said the talks were tense, with Biden urging the adoption of “concrete, tangible and measurable” measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. But key Biden administration officials, including National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, vowed that arms supplies to Israel would remain unchanged and that Washington's support was “ironclad.” “I asked them to do what they had to do,” Biden told reporters bluntly, referring to Netanyahu's announcement late Friday.
In the absence of aid workers to deliver desperately needed food and medicine, opening additional border crossings and temporary sea routes to Gaza is moot. Last week, the Israel Defense Forces halted all aid shipments to northern Gaza by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Following the massacre of aid workers, WCK, American Near East Refugee Assistance (ANERA), and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) suspended aid operations in Gaza. WCK was to play a central role in the maritime aid corridor from Cyprus touted by the Biden administration in March when it announced plans to build a floating dock off the enclave's coast. The Cypriot government announced on Monday that a ship organized by WCK had returned from Gaza without unloading 332 tons of humanitarian aid.
Data from the Territorial Government Activities Coordinator, the Israeli government agency that controls access to Gaza, shows that before it ceased operations, WCK was responsible for 60 percent of non-governmental aid in Gaza. . ANERA has reportedly delivered an average of 150,000 meals each day since October. The UAE provides 25% of all foreign aid.
Other aid organizations still operating have also emphasized that sustaining their operations is more or less impossible. “We're told we're safe, we go on a mission, and then we're delayed for hours, our staff is questioned, harmed or killed. That's unacceptable,” said spokeswoman Tess Ingram. commented. UNICEF, United Nations Children's Agency.
Even if one accepts Israeli propaganda regarding the provision of aid based on Prime Minister Netanyahu's latest announcement, it will continue to fall far short of what is needed. Israeli Army Radio reported that 350 aid trucks are now able to arrive in Gaza every day, up from 200. This represents just 70 percent of the 500 aid trucks that arrived in Gaza each day before the Israeli attack. Claims that 200 trucks are now arriving each day have been denied by independent sources, with Oxfam saying an average of 105 trucks arrive in Gaza each day.
Since the start of Israel's genocidal onslaught, government officials have made no secret of their intention to ethnically cleanse Gaza and use starvation as a weapon of war. From Defense Minister Yoav Galant's infamous comment describing Palestinians as “human animals” to former Israeli National Security Council President Giora Eiland's statement that “a serious epidemic in the southern Gaza Strip brings victory closer” Minister of Finance Bezalil Smotrich's call for “voluntary emigration of Gaza Arabs to countries of the world” led the Zionist regime to kill most of the Gaza population. , leaving no doubt in their determination to forcibly expel the remaining population.
In this context, the most plausible explanation is that the massacre of WCK workers was carried out at the highest levels of the Israeli state in consultation with Washington, with the aim of disrupting the supply of aid to Gaza and thereby escalating the massacre. It was a carefully considered decision. Three clearly marked vehicles were collided separately along a 2.4 kilometer stretch of road. Biden and Netanyahu are now trying to deal with the diplomatic fallout.
Around 300,000 people estimated to be stranded in northern Gaza have been surviving on just 12% of their daily recommended calorie intake since January, according to OXFAM. The average calorie consumption of 245 calories is equivalent to less than one can of fava beans. Across the entire Gaza Strip, the aid Israel has granted since the start of shelling has provided only 41 percent of the recommended calories needed by the entire population. An April 3 press release from the aid organization stated: “The Israeli government has known exactly how many calories a day is needed to prevent malnutrition in Gaza for nearly 20 years, and calculates food consumption in Gaza according to age and gender.” line document. Not only did it use a higher calculation of 2,279 calories per person, but it also took into account domestic food production in Gaza, which Israeli forces have virtually wiped out. ”
Figures from the United Nations and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society estimate that 50,000 children are acutely malnourished. Malnutrition has claimed the lives of 31 children so far, and that number is expected to rise as famine begins. Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said what is becoming increasingly clear to millions of people around the world: “Israel is making a deliberate choice to go hungry.” Ta. Civilian. Imagine what it's like to not only try to survive by eating 245 calories every day, but also have to watch your own children or elderly relatives do the same. They have little access to safe water or sanitation, most medical support has been cut off, and they are forced to live in shelters under constant threat from drones and bombs. ”
Bombs supplied to Israel by American imperialism and its European allies continue to rain down on Gaza. At least 54 Palestinians were confirmed dead in the past 24 hours on Friday, bringing the official death toll to 33,091. Later that day, three people were killed in an attack that destroyed a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. According to UNRWA's latest statistics, 62 percent of all housing in Gaza has been destroyed or damaged since the genocide began.
In the midst of these horrific crimes, the imperialist countries remain fully committed to participating fully in the “final solution” to the Palestinian issue. American imperialism supports genocide as part of a broader plan to wage war across the region with Israeli support against Iran, with the aim of consolidating its hold on the energy-rich Middle East.
At Friday's meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, both the United States and Germany voted against a resolution calling for an end to arms sales to Israel. The non-binding declaration, passed with 28 votes in favor, six against, and 13 abstentions, also called on Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Washington and Berlin cannot support such a proposal because a genuine war crimes tribunal would require President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Prime Minister Scholz, and Foreign Minister Birbock to attend the tribunal along with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Biden administration has shipped more than 100 sophisticated weapons to Israel since October, but Germany increased arms shipments to Israel tenfold after Netanyahu's fascist regime began its genocide. . Next Monday and Tuesday, the International Court of Justice in The Hague will hear a lawsuit filed by Nicaragua accusing Germany of complicity in genocide, citing arms shipments to Israel and declarations by government officials of unconditional support for the Zionist regime. We are planning to hold a meeting. They massacred civilians.
