Blinken says ‘real test is results’ after Israel announces Gaza aid routes
Israel this week said it would take steps including opening the Ashdod port and the Erez crossing to help facilitate the delivery of aid into the enclave, and increasing aid deliveries from Jordan. That announcement came hours after a call in which President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the United States would reassess its policy on the war if Israel did not immediately address the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
On Friday, Borrell warned about impending starvation in Gaza in a social media statement, in which he also pressed for the implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire.
The U.N. humanitarian affairs office has warned that almost one-third of babies and toddlers under the age of 2 in northern Gaza are suffering from “severe wasting,” the most lethal form of malnutrition.
“A severely wasted child is reduced to the most basic bodily functions,” according to UNICEF. “It takes all their energy just to keep breathing.”
At least 28 children have died of lack of food and water as of April 1, the U.N. office said, citing the Gaza Health Ministry, and more than 50,000 children under the age of 5 are acutely malnourished.
It added that the estimated cost of damage to infrastructure in Gaza is about $18.5 billion — equivalent to 97 percent of the 2022 gross domestic product of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — according to a report published last week by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations.
Here’s what else to know
Ahead of talks in Cairo this weekend, President Biden wrote letters to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar urging them to press Hamas to commit to a cease-fire and hostage release deal, a senior administration official said on the condition of anonymity, under rules set by the White House. David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, and Ronen Bar, the head of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet, are both expected to attend the talks, as is CIA Director William J. Burns.
The Israeli military dismissed two officers from their positions and reprimanded three commanders over the strike that killed seven World Central Kitchen workers, after its investigation found that the attack was a “serious violation” of procedures. The food aid nonprofit called for an independent commission, saying that the Israel Defense Forces “cannot credibly investigate its own failure.”
A group of 40 House Democrats wrote to Biden and Blinken, urging the administration to pause offensive arms transfers to Israel in light of the WCK attack and “until a full investigation into the airstrike is completed.”
“Lives are shattered,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said in remarks Sunday marking six months since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel. He added that “respect for international humanitarian law is in tatters” and condemned both the Hamas attack and the “entirely avoidable” civilian deaths in Israel’s response.
The IDF said one of its military helicopters mistakenly killed a hostage when it fired at a vehicle carrying Hamas militants and hostages on Oct. 7. It said the commander of the air force “did not find fault in the operation by the helicopter crew” following an investigation.
At least 33,091 people have been killed and 75,750 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants and says the majority of the dead are women and children. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 256 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.