Gaza conditions worse than ever, USAID chief says

Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), gave a stark warning about the conditions in Gaza this week as war rages in the region between Israel and Hamas.

“Our humanitarian partners working in Gaza tell us that conditions are worse now than ever before,” Power wrote in a Wednesday post on the social platform X. “Israeli military operations & closed crossings are making it extremely difficult to distribute aid.”

Her statement comes after a recent Israeli strike on the southern Gaza city of Rafah set fire to a displaced persons camp and killed 45 Palestinians and injured 200. The Israeli military claimed the attack targeted two senior Hamas officials.

The move has resulted in international fury aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has long rejected calls for a cease-fire in the conflict. Following the backlash, Netanyahu acknowledged the strike was a “tragic mistake” and called for an investigation.

In remarks during a virtual event with donor countries, Power said the “catastrophic consequences” that the U.S. foreshadowed are now becoming real as Israel pushes further into Rafah.

“For months now, President Biden and officials across our administration, myself included, have made clear to Israel that a major ground military operation in Rafah would put civilians at immense risk and imperil the humanitarian response,” the USAID leader said.

“Despite currently more limited military operations around Rafah and the Egypt-Gaza border, the catastrophic consequences that we have long warned about are becoming a reality,” Power added.

Biden threatened earlier this month to stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons, like bombs and artillery shells, if Israel’s military launched an invasion into Rafah without a plan to safely evacuate civilians. The move angered conservatives, and House Republicans advanced legislation to undo the weapons freeze, which the president has said he would veto.

Power said groups on the ground in Gaza said they feel like the war is beginning all over, reiterating that conditions are “worse now than at any period before.” She also noted that 95 percent of the population hasn’t been able to access clean water for months, and more than 1 million people are confronting catastrophic levels of hunger.

According to Palestinian officials, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,100 people and resulted in more than 240 people taken captive.

“In light of these catastrophic conditions, we are in daily conversation still with the Government of Israel and our humanitarian partners about the urgency of protecting those remaining in Rafah, and those who are again being displaced,” Power added.