Joe Biden and his administration are facing accusations of complicity in enabling a famine in Gaza by failing to take sufficient action despite warnings from their own experts and aid agencies.
According to interviews with current and former U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and State Department officials, as well as aid agencies operating in Gaza and internal USAID documents, the administration reportedly ignored pleas to use its influence to urge Israel, a key U.S. ally receiving significant military support, to allow adequate humanitarian aid into Gaza to address the emerging famine.
Former State Department official Josh Paul, who resigned over U.S. support for the conflict, described this as “not just turning a blind eye to the man-made starvation of an entire population, it is direct complicity.”
Israel has denied claims of a hunger crisis in Gaza or restricting aid, citing ongoing conflicts with Hamas as hindrances to aid efforts.
At least 32 people, including 28 children, have reportedly died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, with Human Rights Watch indicating that more deaths could have been prevented with stronger U.S. intervention in response to public and private concerns.
Critics argue that intense U.S. pressure on Israel to increase aid access could have averted the crisis, but President Biden refrained from making U.S. military aid to Israel conditional.
Efforts such as airdrops and a floating pier were pursued by the Biden administration but were deemed insufficient, with approximately 300,000 people in Gaza’s north now facing a severe famine, according to the World Food Program.
Internal dissent within USAID has been unprecedented, with at least 19 internal memos criticizing U.S. support for the conflict in Gaza.
A leaked internal memo from USAID employees calls on the administration to apply pressure to end the Israeli siege contributing to the famine.
Critics argue that the Biden administration’s inaction was a political decision that enabled the famine in Gaza to escalate.
This investigation outlines a series of failures by the Biden administration to act decisively despite repeated warnings of an impending famine in Gaza.