As part of a visit to Israel intended to convey American solidarity with the Jewish state in the wake of the heinous terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas, President Joe Biden declared a $100 million aid package for the current and displaced residents of Gaza.
The Hill reported that Israel consented to the transport of aid into Gaza from Egypt, on the condition that the cargoes undergo inspections and that the aid is exclusively distributed to residents and not Hamas.
The White House, in a statement issued shortly after Biden’s remarks, declared that the administration of the U.S.-funded aid program would be entrusted to non-governmental organizations and the United Nations.
“President Biden announced today that the United States is providing $100 million in humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank,” the White House said in a Wednesday morning statement. “This funding will help support over a million displaced and conflict-affected people with clean water, food, hygiene support, medical care, and other essential needs. The United States provides humanitarian assistance through trusted partners including UN agencies and international NGOs.”
Furthermore, the aforementioned Democratic talking point that Palestinian civilians ought not to be held liable for the activities of Hamas was reiterated in the statement.
“Civilians are not to blame and should not suffer for Hamas’s horrific terrorism,” the statement said. “Civilian lives must be protected and assistance must urgently reach those in need. We will continue to work closely with partners in the region to stress the importance of upholding the law of war, supporting those who are trying to get to safety or provide assistance, and facilitating access to food, water, medical care, and shelter.”
In 2006, Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people to effective legislative authority of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Biden nevertheless maintained, “Hamas does not speak on behalf of the Palestinian people.”
“Hamas uses innocents, innocent families in Gaza, as human shields, putting their command centers, their weapons, their communications tunnels in residential areas,” he added.
Biden said in his Tel Aviv remarks that the money would go to assist “more than 1 million displaced and conflict-affected Palestinians,” The Hill reported, “including emergency needs in Gaza.”
The outlet noted that Gaza has been confronted with severe scarcities of potable water, food, and medical supplies, due to Israel’s restriction of supplies entering the region from Egypt thus far.
Netanyahu appeared to corroborate Biden’s assertions that a recent hospital explosion in Gaza was not the result of an Israeli airstrike, as Hamas has alleged, but rather was initiated by extremist Muslim terrorists.
“Based on the information we’ve seen to date, it appears the result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza,” Biden said.
The Hill reported that in addition to humanitarian assistance for displaced Palestinians, the United States has provided Israel with munitions. Additionally, numerous news outlets have reported that U.S. military units have been placed on high alert in anticipation of a potential deployment to the Middle East.
Two aircraft carrier groups are already stationed in the region by the United States in an effort to deter Hezbollah and Iran, among other regional actors, from launching an attack against Israel.
“We will continue to deter any actor wanting to widen this conflict,” Biden said in a Wednesday morning post to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
According to Reuters, Biden also stated that he would request “unprecedented aid” from Congress for Israel in the near future.
“We will not stand by and do nothing again,” Biden said, referring to the Nazi Holocaust. “Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”