Washington has asked Tel Aviv to stop attacking the Gazan police force attempting to escort aid deliveries in the Strip
The White House has asked the Israeli government to end attacks on police in Gaza. Targeting the civil police force has caused more chaos in the Strip and made aid distribution nearly impossible. US officials believe that the Israeli actions to prevent aid deliveries in Gaza are creating a humanitarian crisis similar to the situation that once existed in Mogadishu.
Axios reported speaking with American and Israeli officials who said Washington has asked Tel Aviv to stop targeting the police force in Gaza. The police force was working with international aid groups to distribute aid in the Strip.
As almost all of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to find food to eat, aid convoys have been mobbed and prevented from reaching their destination. The police force halted the escorts after Israeli forces began targeting the police.
Tel Aviv has taken several other steps to restrict aid deliveries into Gaza. The Israeli Finance Minister is preventing the distribution of US-funded food shipments into the Strip. The Israeli government has also installed an onerous inspection regime for all aid entering Gaza. The inspections remove life-saving medications from shipments and create bottlenecks that slow delivery.
Additionally, Israeli security forces allow Israeli civilian protesters to block aid deliveries at border crossings, further delaying the shipments. Even if the aid enters the Strip, Israeli forces have attacked the trucks.
Prior to the Israeli assault on Gaza, 500 aid trucks entered the Strip daily to help support the besieged population. Since the onslaught began, Tel Aviv has barred commercial shipments and limited aid to just a fraction of the pre-war levels.
The number of Palestinians relying on aid to survive has skyrocketed in that time. Tens of thousands of civilians have been severely injured in Israeli attacks. Virtually all the Palestinians living in Gaza are internally displaced. Just about every medical facility has been destroyed. One in six Palestinian children in northern Gaza are estimated to be on the brink of starvation. Many Palestinians have resorted to eating grass, rotting food, or animal feed. A two-month old Palestinian child starved to death in Central Gaza on Friday.
