Biden’s top aid official says famine is already underway in Gaza
President Joe Biden’s top aid official said that famine is already underway in northern Gaza, as global aid agencies warn that more than 2 million Palestinians face an urgent hunger crisis amid Israel’s ongoing military campaign.
Samantha Power, head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is the first official in the Biden administration to make the declaration.
Her comments came during a congressional hearing on Wednesday, when she was asked whether famine was “plausible or likely” in Gaza.
She pointed to assessments from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative, or IPC, which reported imminent risk of famine and “catastrophic” food insecurity.
“Do you think it is plausible or likely that parts of Gaza, and in particular northern Gaza, are already experiencing famine?” asked Democratic US Rep Joaquin Castro.
“Well, the methodology that the IPC used is one that we had our experts scrub, it’s one that’s relied upon in other settings, and that is their assessment, and we believe that assessment is credible,” she added.
“So famine is already occurring there?” Mr Castro asked.
“That is – yes,” she replied.
Asked about Ms Power’s comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday that the IPC report “indicates that famine is imminent in Gaza.”
“We are certainly deeply concerned about these reports, and so we’ve been working around the clock to get more of that aid into Gaza,” she said.
She said there has been “some promise” of increased aid into Gaza following the president’s calls for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, measurable steps to address humanitarian suffering.”
The recent movement of 1,000 aid trucks into Gaza is “good progress, but it’s still not enough and we hope to see the progress continue and accelerate,” she added.
But pressed by The Independent on Thursday, the White House was unable to answer definitively why – despite months of warnings from aid groups and other agencies that famine was imminent – the president has refused to use his significant leverage to push Israel to admit more desperately needed aid into the region.
“The president has been working around the clock, so I take offence to what you’re saying, because it isn’t true,” Ms Jean-Pierre said. “The president has been working on this hostage deal for months now. … And that is a way to make sure that there’s a temporary ceasefire that could hopefully lead to something longer, get those hostages home, and get humanitarian aid.”
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