Over the past 48 hours, Israel has taken dramatic steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza:
Humanitarian airdrops: For the first time since 10/7, the IDF began airdrops of humanitarian aid on Saturday, and has already dropped dozens of food pallets into Gaza in coordination with the UAE and Jordan.
Humanitarian corridors: The IDF is establishing designated humanitarian corridors to enable the safe movement of U.N. convoys delivering food and medicine in Gaza.
Humanitarian pauses: The IDF is implementing humanitarian pauses in densely populated areas to allow for easier access to humanitarian sites.
New power line to the desalination plant: This is expected to supply approximately 20,000 cubic meters of water per day, up from the 2,000 cubic meters supplied until now, to serve about 900,000 residents in the area.
Yesterday, Israel facilitated the entry of 180 aid trucks into Gaza, in addition to the hundreds of trucks worth of aid already there awaiting U.N. distribution. The U.N. only picked up 120 of the trucks brought in yesterday.
In addition, Israel is continuing to support the work of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the only aid organization working to prevent its operations from fueling Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office said today that Israel "will continue to work with international agencies, as well as the U.S. and European nations to ensure that large amounts of humanitarian aid flows into the Gaza Strip."
Hamas is solely responsible for the situation in Gaza. The United States must continue to support efforts to deliver aid to Gazans in a manner that does not benefit Hamas, unlike longstanding efforts by the U.N., which routinely collaborates with the terror organization.
The U.N.'s own data shows that thousands of tons of humanitarian aid has been stolen.
Footage released earlier today shows chaotic scenes around aid trucks inside Gaza, demonstrating the inability of the U.N. and international organizations to prevent aid from being looted.
Meanwhile, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) Executive Chairman Johnnie Moore, writing in The Wall Street Journal, called on the United Nations and international community to work with GHF to help get aid to those in need:
"Since we began our operations in May, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has repeatedly called for the U.N. and its affiliate agencies to combine efforts with us to feed the people of Gaza. We have a shared goal of delivering food to the people who need it and our organization has the delivery mechanism to achieve this because of the level of security we provide. Unfortunately, we have been met not only with silence but with smears."
While Israel works to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Hamas is prolonging the suffering of Israelis and Palestinians alike.
American leaders must demand Hamas immediately accept the ceasefire deal it rejected last week and increase the pressure on the terror group.
Tell Congress: Condemn Hamas For Rejecting the Hostage-Ceasefire Deal
Urge American leaders to demand Hamas immediately accept the ceasefire deal it rejected last week that was brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar, and was accepted by Israel. This deal would stop the fighting, free hostages, and surge aid to Gaza.
TAKE 45 SECONDS: Email your members of Congress and urge them to demand Hamas immediately accept the hostage-ceasefire deal.
The Free Press: "Is Gaza Starving? Searching for the Truth in an Information War."
In an article in The Free Press, veteran Israeli journalist Matti Friedman investigates claims of "starvation" in Gaza, asking, "In a blizzard of ideological fiction, how are sane citizens in Israel, or anywhere else, supposed to know what’s true and to do the right thing?"
"Reports of impending hunger engineered by Israel in Gaza have been commonplace not just since the beginning of this war but for at least a decade and a half, since Hamas seized the territory and Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade that supposedly turned Gaza into an 'open-air prison.' The famine never materialized. Now we hear claims that this same period of supposedly extreme deprivation was actually a Gazan idyll that Israel has cruelly destroyed in this war...
"During my years as a reporter and editor for the Associated Press, I saw coverage altered by Hamas threats to our staff, while this fact was concealed from readers. I know firsthand that nearly no information coming from Gaza can be taken at face value.
"You might have thought that hunger in Gaza would work against Hamas, forcing the group to have mercy on its own civilians and accept the ceasefire desired by Israel and the U.S. and currently under discussion in Qatar. But Hamas knows that the opposite is true: The disaster they’ve engineered in Gaza fuels the global campaign against Israel. That’s presumably why the crescendo of hunger stories coincided on Friday with reports that Hamas has now hardened its positions in the talks, leading to their suspension. (One of Hamas’s top demands, according to an American official cited by The Wall Street Journal, is shutting down the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.)"
U.S. rejects U.N. Palestinian statehood conference
The State Department today issued a statement condemning a United Nations conference this week hosted by France and Saudi Arabia intended to advanced Palestinian statehood:
"This week, the U.N. will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City. This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. Far from promoting peace, the conference will prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.
"As Secretary Rubio has made clear, this effort is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th and a reward for terrorism. It keeps hostages trapped in tunnels. The United States will not participate in this insult but will continue to lead real-world efforts to end the fighting and deliver a permanent peace. Our focus remains on serious diplomacy: not stage-managed conferences designed to manufacture the appearance of relevance.
"President Macron’s announcement about recognizing a Palestinian state was welcomed by Hamas. This reflects a pattern of counterproductive gestures that only emboldens Hamas, encourages its obstruction of a ceasefire, and greatly undercuts our diplomatic efforts to end the suffering in Gaza, free the hostages, and move the whole Middle East towards a brighter and more prosperous future."
IAEA inspectors to visit Iran as nuclear talks with Europeans ongoing
Iran and the E3 — the U.K., France and Germany — agreed to hold additional talks on the regime's nuclear program, following an initial round in Istanbul on Friday. These talks were the first since the recent American and Israeli strikes on Iran.
And Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei announced today that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is scheduled to visit Iran within the next two weeks.
The IAEA is reportedly specifically concerned about the location of approximately 400kg of highly enriched uranium in Iran’s possession.
"We wiped out [Iran's] nuclear possibilities. They can start again, if they do we'll wipe it out faster than you can wave your finger at it. We'll have to do that... We will do that openly and gladly."
The United States must continue to stand with Israel and ensure that Iran is permanently and verifiably prevented from enriching uranium.
Houthis train to invade Israel
Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists are reportedly training for an invasion of Israel. The Houthis' attack plan has been named "Al-Aqsa Flood" — the same title used by Hamas for its October 7 massacre.
The terror group released a video showing its operatives undergoing military training — using Israeli, American, and British flags as targets at a shooting range.
Just yesterday, the terrorist group announced an escalation in their campaign against Israel and international shipping, vowing to attack any vessel operated by companies that conduct business with Israeli ports.
The United States must continue to ensure Israel has the resources and support needed to defend its people and increase the pressure on Iran and its terrorist proxies.
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Israel's wartime Gaza aid is historically unprecedented
John Spencer Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute; Executive Director of the Urban Warfare Institute
"There is another truth that must be acknowledged. One that is rarely said out loud, despite being plain and provable: There is no historical precedent for a military providing the level of direct aid to an enemy population that Israel has provided to Gaza."
The mission of AIPAC is to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial relationship with our ally Israel.
