Minister-without-portfolio Benny Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, has been in tough talks about hunger in the Gaza Strip with Israel’s two staunchest allies, the United States and the United Kingdom. His trip comes at a critical moment in the Israel-Hamas war.
Senior officials in London and Washington have spoken with him about the food crisis in Gaza, while the United Nations warned that Gazans are facing starvation.
Gantz met with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron in London on Wednesday and with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday. He also met with US Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday.
The Israel-Hamas war has complicated the delivery of humanitarian goods in Gaza due to ongoing combat and the absence of passable roads and working utilities. The IDF and the UN have not found an adequate distribution system, and the US and the UK have considered alternative options.
The US and the UK have said Israel could do more.
US and UK want Israel ‘to do more’
Cameron on Monday said: “We are now at that point where people are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.”
Great Britain has pushed Israel to allow in more humanitarian assistance, but the quantity of goods that entered Gaza in February was half what it was in January, he said in a speech at the House of Lords.
“So, patience needs to run very thin, and a whole series of warnings needs to be given,” Cameron said, adding that he planned to do this when he met with Gantz.
There must be a pause in the war, increased humanitarian assistance, improved passage and distribution of goods, and resumption of utility services, such as water and electricity, Cameron said.
Too many dual-use items have been banned from entering Gaza, he said, adding that some of the items were necessary for medical services.
When the UK evaluates whether Israel is compliant with international law, it takes the presence of hunger in Gaza into account, Cameron said.
“Israel is the occupying power,” he said. “It is responsible, and that has consequences, including in how we look at whether Israel is compliant with international humanitarian law.”
A few weeks ago, Cameron said, he had spoken of “the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease, and we are now at that point people are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.”
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy on Wednesday said: “The problem is not getting aid into Gaza. The problem is the distribution inside Gaza.”
The UN has relied on UNRWA, “a Hamas front,” and that has failed, he said.
Israel has called on the UN to use alternative agencies to ensure that Palestinians receive humanitarian assistance, Levy said.
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