Gaza policy makes US a ‘target’: former officials | Israeli-Palestinian conflict news

Twelve officials say cover provided to Israel ‘ensured’ US ‘complicity’ in Gaza war

A group of former US government officials say Washington’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza threatens national security.

Twelve officials who resigned in the past nine months in protest of U.S. policies said in a letter released late Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s support for Israel means Washington has “undeniable complicity” in the killing and starvation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They called the White House’s policy on the war in the enclave “a failure and a threat to U.S. national security.”

While Biden and his administration have made rhetorical efforts in recent weeks to call on Israel to show restraint, Washington has continued to provide military and diplomatic support to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition government, which includes radical nationalist parties.

This has led to the resignation of numerous officials in protest since Netanyahu launched the war in the enclave following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel.

Maryam Hassanein, who left her post as a special assistant at the Interior Department on Tuesday, was the latest to resign. She was one of the signatories, along with former officials from the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the military and four political staff members.

“American diplomatic cover and the continued flow of weapons to Israel have ensured our undeniable complicity in the killings and forced starvation of the besieged Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip,” the letter reads.

“This is not only morally reprehensible and a clear violation of international humanitarian law and U.S. law, but it also undermines America,” the former officials warned.

“The Credibility of American Values”

The letter of protest comes as international protests against Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip continue and American military and diplomatic support for its ally faces increasing criticism.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said nearly 38,000 Palestinians had been killed in the war, and many more were feared dead as Israeli bombing razed once-inhabited areas of the besieged enclave.

The October attack by Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, killed about 1,200 people. Another 250 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. About 120 are still believed to be in captivity.

Due to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the enclave’s 2.4 million inhabitants are facing a deep humanitarian crisis, as they lack food, water, medicine and fuel.

Washington has called for more aid to be allowed into Gaza, but Israel continues to impose tight restrictions. The former officials say in their letter that Israel’s ability to enforce its blockade of Gaza is another failure of U.S. policy.

“Rather than holding the government of Israel accountable for its role in arbitrarily obstructing humanitarian aid, the United States has withheld funding from the largest provider of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip: UNRWA, the UN agency for the Palestinians,” the document reads.

“Instead of using our enormous leverage to establish barriers that can guide Israel toward a lasting and just peace, we have facilitated its self-destructive actions, which have deepened its political quagmire and contributed to its long-term global isolation.”

The statement added that US policy towards the Middle East also damages the “credibility of American values” as the US condemns Russia’s war in Ukraine while “unconditionally arming and justifying Israel”.

The former officials outlined steps the government would take to ensure this, including implementing the Leahy Acts, which prohibit military assistance to forces that commit human rights abuses, and ensuring the expansion of humanitarian aid to Gaza and the reconstruction of the territory.