Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Sunday called for “consequences” against Israel to reduce civilian deaths and expand humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Asked on CBS News' “Face the Nation” if the Israeli government should face consequences for its part in blocking aid to Gaza for political reasons, Van Hollen said: “Yes. , I think so…retribution is necessary.”
“You know, [Secretary of State Antony Blinken] And President Biden was right to say two things. It was about reducing civilian casualties to unacceptable levels and cooperating even more in providing humanitarian aid. We have never seen anything like that,” Van Hollen added.
Van Hollen has spent the past few days in the Middle East with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), visiting the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza. It is at this border that the majority of humanitarian aid reaches besieged Gaza, but several humanitarian groups stress that the aid only scratches the surface of what civilians need.
Mr. Van Hollen suggested that aid is not reaching the region because of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political choices.
“There are two big things happening right now. One is the unnecessarily cumbersome process of going through the Israeli vetting process, which I think is the result of a political decision by the Netanyahu coalition,” he said.
Ms Van Hollen said items such as water filtration systems were found rejected at warehouses, and described how she saw trucks carrying aid from UNICEF being turned away at intersections.
“If one item on a truck is rejected, the entire truck is rejected,” he said. Another big problem is within Gaza, with the so-called deconfliction process, which is just a fancy name for those providing humanitarian aid to have confidence that they can provide aid without being killed. . ”
“And according to international reports, [nongovernmental organizations] “I spoke to people working in conflict zones around the world who have never seen such abysmal processes to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid,” he added.
Margaret Brennan, host of CBS's “Face the Nation,” pointed out that France and Jordan decided to airlift aid to Gaza because of problems on the ground. Asked if the U.S. should do the same, Van Hollen said, “Well, I think we should look at all avenues to get desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza.” It was pointed out that the scale of the project was not large enough.
The war between Israel and the militant group Hamas has been going on for more than three months since an October 7 Hamas attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people. Approximately 240 people are believed to have been abducted by Hamas in this attack.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Sunday that at least 22,835 people have been killed in the coastal enclave since early October, according to reports.
In recent weeks, U.S. officials have increased pressure on Israel to allow more aid into the region, stressing that Israel has the right to defend itself. Still, the Biden administration has publicly and privately urged Israel to scale back the war and be more mindful of civilian deaths.
Last month, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution extending aid to the Gaza Strip. The United States did not vote in favor of the resolution, but it also did not block it.
Israel opened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza last month, creating a second entry point for aid. Associated Press reported.
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