Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) stated on Tuesday, “It is long past time to end the Gaza conflict, with the return of all hostages and the end of military operations.”
“But an active war zone is no excuse for not doing everything possible to prevent the unnecessary suffering confronting Palestinians, who are caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hamas,” the congressman said.
Peters noted Israel’s announcement this week about “multiple air drops and aid convoys, humanitarian pauses in fighting and the designation of secure routes for the wider dissemination of assistance provides renewed hope.”
“But hundreds of truckloads of aid are currently sitting at the Gaza border waiting to be distributed. This is unacceptable,” he said.
The congressman said that there “must be immediate action to deliver the desperately needed humanitarian aid to the starving” and that “now is the time for the Israeli government, the United Nations, the Trump administration, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and all who have the responsibility and ability, together to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
Israel has said repeatedly that it cleared the truckloads of aid to enter Gaza, but that the United Nations hasn’t retrieved them inside Gaza and delivered them. The congressman’s statement didn’t say which side of the Gaza border the aid sits on. He also didn’t say whether or not the global body had delivered it.
“Hamas must not interfere with or weaponize the delivery of this aid,” the congressman said. “There is no justification for delay.”
Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, posted images of the trucks in Gaza on July 24. “Here are photos of U.N. trucks and enough food to feed all of Gaza, but it sits rotting,” he stated. “The United Nations is a tool of Hamas. U.S.-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is actually delivering food for free and safely. U.N. food is either looted by Hamas or rots in the sun.”
