US lawmaker condemns Gaza famine, calls for UN aid restoration
WASHINGTON
A US lawmaker voiced concern Wednesday on the deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and called on the US to push for the immediate reinstatement of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
“I rise today as a mother, a physician and a member of Congress, horrified by the ongoing massacre in Gaza,” Congresswoman Maxine Dexter told on the House floor.
“This is not a humanitarian crisis in body_abstract,” she said. “It is the result of choices, choices leading to preventable famine.”
Dexter called the Israeli government-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) “the only so-called aid group allowed in” the enclave, accusing it of “annihilating the very principles of neutrality and humanitarian relief.”
Launched in the besieged Gaza Strip on May 27, the aid distribution sites of the GHF, which also has US backing, have been described as “death traps” by critics.
“We are hearing reports that aid will be contingent on a ceasefire. Let me be clear: That is morally bankrupt. You do not negotiate over food, you do not bargain with medicine. You do not turn aid sites into death traps.
“Palestinians in Gaza deserve safety, dignity and self-determination, not starvation,” Dexter added.
Dexter, a Democrat from the State of Oregon, said the US has a “moral obligation” to use its power to end “this tragedy.”
“A critical step is demanding the UN Relief and Works Agency is immediately reinstated in Gaza for large-scale aid delivery,” she added.
Israel has killed more than 59,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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