Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is implicated in documents that show that he lied to Congress regarding Israel. The documents show that Blinken received two reports on how Israel has blocked aid to Gaza, and then told Congress the exact opposite.
Two U.S. government agencies – the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department’s refugee bureau, said that Israel was blocking aid, including food and medicine aid deliveries, into Gaza. The agencies shared their findings with diplomats in April of 2024, saying that Israel had broken international law. The conclusion is impactful because U.S. law requires that the government cut off weapons shipments to countries that prevent the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid. Israel is dependent on U.S. weapons shipments, using weapons manufactured in the U.S. to enact genocide in Gaza.
Blinken and Biden did not accept the findings in these reports. On May 10, Blinken said to Congress, “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.” USAID had sent Blinken a 17-page document on Israel’s conduct which described Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots, and turning away trucks that contained food and medicine aid.
According to NewRepublic, “Food for Gaza, including flour that could have fed nearly 1.5 million Palestinians for five months, was stockpiled less than 30 miles from the Gazan border in an Israeli port, the memo stated. In February, however, Israel stopped allowing flour into the territory, accusing the recipient, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, of having ties to Hamas. An independent investigation would find no evidence for Israel’s claims.”
The U.S. allowance for Israel to continue violating international law, yet continuance of selling of arms to Israel is another bullet in the long list of U.S. complicitness in the Israel genocide of Gaza. The U.S. exceptions for Israel have never been more clear.
