The Washington Post published a letter to five Senate Democrats urging the United States to immediately launch what they called the “Gaza relief operation.” They said that given the lack of a meaningful response to the Biden administration's appeals to the Netanyahu government for humanitarian aid, the responsibility for leadership falls on Washington as the largest provider of military aid to Israel, which it used in its campaign on the Gaza Strip.

They added that the matter falls on the United States because of its enormous maritime transportation power to deliver aid, and it may be the only country that Israel will allow to coordinate the provision of direct aid to Gaza.

The five representatives - Jeff Merkley, Dick Durbin, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen, and Peter Welch - commented that the war strategy chosen by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a tremendous and unacceptable impact on Palestinian civilians.

The Israeli air bombing campaign led to the death of more than 28,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 70% of whom were women and children, and many were seriously injured. Severe shortages of medicine, food, water and shelter, in addition to power and communications outages, have led to a cascading humanitarian catastrophe.

Moreover, the MPs added, “Our values demand providing life-saving humanitarian support in Gaza. In conflict after conflict around the world, we highlight humanitarian tragedies and blame responsible governments. We stand against bombing campaigns that result in mass casualties among civilians. We are coordinating aid to help those who are suffering. Because of our close partnership with Israel, it is imperative that we act in Gaza."

The representatives continued that the administration has so far emphasized two strategies in this regard: urging Israel to significantly expand the circle of aid, and following a diplomatic strategy to formulate a truce in the fighting that will stop the bombing and provide an opportunity to pump aid.

Major needs

Although these two strategies reduce the conflict with the Netanyahu government and avoid the complexity and responsibility of coordinating direct assistance, they have failed. The Palestinians cannot wait any longer, and our country must act now.

The representatives summarized the role that the United States should play in the “Gaza Relief Operation” into 4 main needs or roles:

First, providing urgently needed medicines and medical equipment because the 11 partially functioning hospitals remaining in Gaza cannot provide the care needed by thousands of Palestinians suffering from life-threatening injuries.

Second, the impending famine must be stopped by immediate food deliveries and fuel to restart bakeries and cooking stoves.

Third, addressing the acute water shortage, and addressing the water crisis in general, especially with regard to polluted water, which actually leads to the spread of diseases on a large scale and ensuring that desalination plants on the coast have the fuel required to operate them.

Fourth, providing safe shelter. The Netanyahu government has repeatedly directed the Palestinians to locations that were later subjected to military attack. The Gaza relief operation must facilitate the provision of assistance to relief organizations to deliver and establish emergency shelters in areas that are coordinated with Israel and the United Nations to ensure that they are safe areas.

The American representatives' message concluded that to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza, Washington should continue to press for a ceasefire in addition to the release of the hostages. But given the difficult circumstances, these efforts alone are not sufficient, so the Gaza relief operation is necessary, and our American values require rapid action.

Source: Washington Post + Aljazeera