US INTERVENTION IN GAZA AND ITS INCONSISTENCIES

After an aid package dropped in Gaza killed five, let’s analyze if American actions can ever fully serve the needs in the region.

By Jake

9 March 2024

A screengrab from the video, moments before one of the shipments becomes tangled and falls quickly to the ground.

The video is quick yet violent. As many aid packages float slowly, one is tangled in its lines and plummets fast, disappearing behind the row of buildings. According to the local health officials in Gaza, this falling American aid package killed five, but the US disputes the claim. I’m tempted to cast it as the perfect metaphor for the US’s flawed efforts in the region, but I feel that would disregard the real tragedy of the situation - the deaths of hungry people and the families that will feel their absence for the rest of their lives. The growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza needs to be addressed, but how are nations who’ve already lost trust going to help?

One ambitious idea recently proposed by Biden is a new, quickly-made port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast for the express purpose of humanitarian aid. There is a real possibility that millions could be fed, clothed, housed, and given medicine by this idea. However, it will take weeks to even start installation and there is a real risk that the US Army Transportation team undergoing the process will be targeted by Hamas. If that happens, it will mean escalation and loss of sympathy, leading to more suffering of innocents in the long term.

Both the airdropped packages and port idea speak to a break in trust for Israel’s cooperation. Western allies of Israel are circumventing usual pathways of aid such as the border crossings after months of pressure on Netanyahu’s government bore no fruit. This poses its own problem for peace negotiations. Israel claims to be involved in the airdrops. As much as Israel is responsible for the humanitarian crisis, they need to be part of the solution if any healing will ever occur.

American attempts at compromise have made both sides angry. The Biden administration’s diplomatic and military backing of the war contradicted by use of human rights language makes the US hypocritical, harming all future trust in negotiations. Biden is more concerned with the Muslims in the US voting in November than this slipping into famine each day in Gaza. US allies rely so heavily on its military support and intelligence, yet the US is never willing to use that as leverage for peace.

The US cooperated with Jordan to deploy the airdropped aid - perhaps regional alliances with Arab states can help make up for the lack of trust in the US. Egypt has hosted recent peace talks, although Hamas left said talks after being unable to list which of their hostages were still alive. Egypt’s debt problems present an opportunity - perhaps the US can alleviate its financial burden in exchange for increased diplomatic help with Hamas. It is the small, hard-won deals for humanitarian aid and hostage exchanges that could provide the groundwork for the two-state solution where peace could thrive.

This could be the greatest diplomatic challenge of our generation, both a daily humanitarian crisis and a war that will be studied by future generations. It is endlessly complex and filled with potential obstacles. We at ONE believe that this makes the peaceful solution more worthy to pursue, not less. Our shared human heritage is at stake. Imperfect, hypocritical countries can still find common ground in the basic feeding of starving people and try to move on from there. This cannot be allowed to become another forever war.