US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced more than $400 million in new humanitarian aid for the Palestinians in Gaza, as he renewed calls on Hamas to accept a ceasefire proposal he described as the most effective way to tackle the humanitarian devastation.
The top US diplomat also called on countries to provide more aid to support people in the war-torn region during a humanitarian emergency conference in Jordan.
The humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza has become catastrophic during the eight months of Israel’s war against Hamas. The Israeli government has restricted access and items that could have found their way into the strip. Humanitarian agencies have struggled with destroyed infrastructure that hampers their ability to deliver much-needed aid, and aid workers have been caught in the crossfire.
“The crisis in Gaza is immense,” Blinken acknowledged.
“Only a third of the current United Nations appeal is funded. That leaves a deficit of about $2 billion to $3 billion. Every country can help fill this gap. Yet some who expressed deep concern about the suffering of the Palestinian people in Gaza, including countries that could give a lot, have given very little — or nothing at all,” Blinken said, without naming specific countries. “It’s time for everyone, everyone, to step up.”
The new $404 million in funding from the US will go to “food, safe drinking water, health care, protection, education, shelter and psychosocial support,” according to a State Department media note.
In his remarks Tuesday, Blinken said that “Israel, especially in recent months, has taken some important steps to open more border crossings and address obstacles to delivering aid, but it can and should do more.”
“As we have communicated directly to the Israeli government, it is crucial to expedite the delivery of inspection vehicles and clear the backlog, to clarify and shorten the list of prohibited goods, to expedite visas for to increase aid workers and process them more quickly, to create clearer, more effective channels for humanitarian groups to break the conflict with IDF operations, to provide life-saving medicines and equipment, to provide everything needed to provide water and sanitation to recover,” he said.
“And Israel must take further steps to reduce civilian casualties, even as it faces an enemy who started this war with the barbaric massacre of civilians on October 7,” Blinken said.
Despite Blinken’s claims about “important steps” taken by the Israeli government, humanitarian aid workers say the situation on the ground has only worsened, especially as the Israeli military has stepped up operations in Rafah, where millions of Palestinians had previously fled. Blinken himself acknowledged in his remarks on Tuesday that “more than a million people have been displaced from Rafah in the past month alone — many of whom have been uprooted multiple times.”
“The situation is back to one of its lowest points, which is quite shocking right now,” said Arnaud Quemin, Middle East director at Mercy Corps.
There was an “ecosystem” for humanitarian aid work in Rafah – some non-governmental organizations and UN agencies providing logistics facilities, others providing transportation, “everyone working together to make that happen,” he described to CNN. But with the Israeli military operation taking place since early May, “it could no longer function, it just came to a standstill.”
International officials and humanitarian workers have described the situation in Gaza as unprecedented in complexity and scope. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the conference on Tuesday that “the speed and scale of the carnage and killings in Gaza exceed anything in my years as Secretary General.”
The top US diplomat emphasized in his remarks that the US sees Hamas as the only obstacle to a ceasefire that would alleviate humanitarian suffering.
“Today, as we meet, one and only one thing stands in the way of the deal’s realization, and that is Hamas,” he said. “So my most important and first message today to every government, to every multilateral institution, to every humanitarian organization that wants to alleviate the enormous suffering in Gaza: make sure Hamas accepts the deal.”
Others also stressed the need for a ceasefire to enable humanitarian work.
“The status quo cannot last. Without a political agreement supporting a ceasefire, the humanitarian aid system will be pushed to the point of collapse,” Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said at the conference on Tuesday.
This story has been updated with additional reporting.
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