Israel Kills Aid Workers, Devastates Gaza's Hospitals to Starve Palestinians
Yesterday, an Israeli drone strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who had been distributing vital food aid in northern Gaza. By deliberately killing the aid workers, Israel achieved its goal today: the charity suspended its operations, and a ship carrying hundreds of tons of desperately-needed food turned around and returned to Cyprus. The same day, Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a devastating two-week assault that destroyed the facility and killed hundreds of patients and medical staff. Shockingly, despite these ongoing atrocities, the Biden administration is poised to approve an $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel, the largest U.S. arms deal since Israel started its genocide in Gaza. The administration also plans to send Israel a large new batch of precision-guided munitions. 
This week’s massacres are isolated incidents, but part of Israel's systematic campaign to destroy aid delivery in Gaza, especially in the hardest-hit northern areas. As our memo from last month explained, Israel has: - Maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza's borders, severely restricting aid trucks, despite orders from the International Court of Justice to facilitate humanitarian assistance.
- Enabled Israeli settler groups to stage protests blocking aid deliveries, with individuals like the extremist American-Israeli Andy Green taking a leading role.
- Systematically destroyed water, power, communications, and transportation infrastructure essential for aid distribution.
In addition, Israel has also assassinated over 70 members of Gaza's Popular and Tribal Committees formed to help secure and distribute aid, including police officials and community leaders. Just three days ago, the committees announced they could no longer assist with food delivery due to the ongoing killings. Israel is deliberately using starvation and aid obstruction as weapons of war in an apparent effort to force Palestinians to abandon their homes in northern Gaza — a grave violation of U.S. and international law. The UN reports over 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face severe food insecurity, with acute child malnutrition and multiple starvation deaths, overwhelmingly concentrated in the north. The recent Israeli assault on Al-Shifa Hospital left it severely damaged with hundreds of patients and staff killed. This attack on a protected medical facility is a grave violation of U.S. and international law and has further crippled Gaza's already overstretched healthcare system in the face of widespread malnutrition and a public health catastrophe. Rather than sending Israel more weapons to kill civilians and aid workers, the U.S. should demand an end to the genocide, blockade, and attacks on humanitarian efforts. Take action today to call on President Biden to take the following steps without delay: Invoke Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act to immediately suspend military aid and arms transfers to Israel, as it is obstructing U.S. humanitarian assistance. A recent Senate letter led by Sens. Sanders, Van Hollen and Merkley called for exactly this. Impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and settlers implicated in killing aid workers, aid obstruction, and human rights abuses in Gaza, building on the Biden administration's recent sanctions against violent West Bank settlers. Demand Israel allow unfettered humanitarian access and aid delivery throughout Gaza, with meaningful consequences for non-compliance. Suspend any weapon sales to Israel until further notice. The U.S. should follow other countries, including Canada and the Netherlands, in imposing an indefinite arms embargo on Israel.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. Gaza can't wait.
Sincerely, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action |
