Speaking on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Report” broadcast Thursday, USAID Administrator Ambassador Samantha Power argued that Israel has not done enough to improve its delivery of aid to Gaza, acknowledging that “there is criminal activity there, there are gangs there, there are militants there.”
Power said, “Yes, in a way it’s a kind of vicious cycle. The lack of aid for so long makes families feel increasingly hopeless, and every time a truck arrives or passes through a part of Gaza there’s this feeling that it might be the last. And there’s no regular flow of aid that’s needed to give people confidence that help will continue. That’s one side of it. There’s criminal activity. There are gangs. There are militants. And of course there’s the fighting between the IDF and Hamas. There’s war, and it’s difficult for unarmed humanitarians to get a convoy from point A to point B. So it’s a very difficult combination of circumstances. Andrea, humanitarians on the ground have worked in conflict zones their whole careers, and they say they’ve never worked in such complex situations, such desperate situations.”
She later added: “I took part in meetings this week with the IDF’s top commander and humanitarian leaders to expedite the process. Finally, eight months later, we are seeing some improvement, but it’s still not enough.”
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