“I think the White House said on October 19 if that happens then the international community will have to stop the aid. It’s happened. In bundles. But nobody has asked to stop the aid, and we haven’t stopped it.”
The U.N. says practically all of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants rely on aid to survive, and that hunger has reached catastrophic levels. It also notes there was a 50 percent reduction in aid reaching Gaza in February.
The lack of aid entering Gaza by land, as well as a flashpoint incident where over 100 Palestinians died while trying to get aid from a food truck, has led the U.S. and EU to begin dropping food directly to Palestinians by air, and to accelerate efforts to deliver aid by sea.
Netanyahu said he had suggested a maritime route for aid from Cyprus in a conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden two weeks after the war began, countering assertions Israel has resisted sea-borne aid.
Asked why more aid isn’t reaching Gaza by land, Netanyahu said: “Hamas is coming at gunpoint and stealing the food.
“Humanitarian deaths and starvation is, for us, it’s a tragedy. For them, it’s a strategy. They think that this will help them place more pressure on Israel to stop the war, leave them in place so they can repeat the October 7 massacre.”
