Reporter Questions Administration’s Efforts to Address Hunger Amid Continuing Conflict
During Thursday’s White House press briefing, The Independent’s correspondent, Andrew Feinberg, challenged Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre regarding the US government’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Feinberg questioned Jean-Pierre on President Joe Biden’s actions, asking how she could claim the administration was doing everything possible when, for weeks, humanitarian organisations had warned of a looming famine, yet the US had not tied military assistance to the delivery of aid.
Jean-Pierre responded by referencing the ongoing air drops and the creation of a temporary pier in the Mediterranean as part of the US’s efforts to deliver aid to Gaza. She reiterated the administration’s commitment to increasing humanitarian aid, saying, “We’ve talked about for the past several months how we need to do more and how we’re going to uptick our efforts to get that humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
The situation remains dire in Gaza, with 133 hostages still held by Hamas since the October attacks, according to Israeli officials. On Wednesday, US officials acknowledged that famine was likely already underway in Gaza.
Samantha Power, the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), appeared before the House Foreign Relations Committee, where she was asked by Democratic Representative Joaquin Castro whether parts of Gaza, particularly the northern region, were already facing famine. Power confirmed that the situation was credible and confirmed that famine was occurring.
Feinberg further pressed Jean-Pierre, highlighting that President Biden had only recently suggested conditioning military aid to Israel on the condition that they allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. Jean-Pierre responded by pointing to ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal, which, she claimed, would also help facilitate aid delivery.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023, over 33,000 people in Gaza have been killed, the majority being women and children, as the conflict continues with no end in sight.
