Earlier this year, two U.S. government authorities determined that Israel was deliberately blocking the delivery of food and medicine to Gaza during its brutal massacre in the territory.

But even after USAID and the State Department’s refugee office shared their findings with senior diplomats in late April, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress the exact opposite days later, ProPublica reported Tuesday, citing leaked reports.

In a statement to Congress on May 10, Blinken said, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or restricting in any way the transfer or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance” to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

According to the report, Blinken received a 17-page memo from USAID on Israel’s behavior, ahead of his statement to Congress (obtained by ProPublica, the New York-based investigative journalism organization), which described instances in which Israel killed local and international aid workers, bombed hospitals and ambulances, demolished agricultural structures, regularly turned away food and medicine trucks, and sat on supply warehouses.

The memo said food destined for Gaza, including flour that could have fed nearly 1.5 million Palestinians for five months, was stored less than 30 miles from the Gaza border at an Israeli port. However, in February, Israel stopped allowing flour into the territory, accusing the recipient, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), of being linked to Hamas. Independent investigations have found no evidence for Israel’s claims.

Blinken and other senior Biden administration officials appear to have ignored the findings. The United Nations has declared a famine in Gaza, saying many Palestinians in the territory are going days without food and that many children have starved to death. The war has also created a health emergency in Gaza, including the first confirmed case of polio in the territory in 25 years.

The State Department issued a statement in response to questions from ProPublica, claiming that it had pressured Israel to allow more aid into Gaza.

“As we made clear in May when we issued our report, the United States has been deeply concerned since October 7 about actions or inactions by Israel that have contributed to the continued failure to deliver needed humanitarian assistance,” the State Department response said. “Israel has subsequently taken steps to facilitate increased humanitarian access and flow into Gaza.”

The US government’s handling of the USAID memo led to internal strife, with one State Department official, Stacey Gilbert, resigning in May over Blinken’s statement to Congress.

“There is abundant evidence that shows Israel is responsible for obstructing aid, and to deny this is absurd and shameful,” Gilbert wrote in a statement at the time. “This report and its blatant lies will haunt us.”