Israel Reduces Aid to Starving Gazans to Pressure for Dead Bodies
Al-Monitor, via Reuters, reports Hamas will transfer four deceased Israeli hostages. Notably, this comes after Israeli officials stated the Rafah crossing — the primary entry point for humanitarian aid into Gaza — would remain closed, and aid reduced, specifically 'to put pressure on the militant group to hand over the bodies.' (Because leverage is leverage, living or dead.) This isn't just a grim
transaction; it's a stark reminder of the systematic deprivation inflicted upon Gaza. Aid, food, water, medicine—these are not seen as human rights, but as tools for political and military objectives. While Western media reports these events as distinct occurrences, the consistent pattern reveals a deliberate policy: the withholding of life-sustaining resources to a besieged population as a
weapon. Meanwhile, US politicians continue to rubber-stamp unconditional aid to Israel. For instance, Senator Lindsey Graham, a vocal supporter of Israeli military actions, received over $100,000 from pro-Israel PACs over his career, according to OpenSecrets.org, while voting repeatedly for military aid packages, like the recent supplemental aid bill HR 815, passed in April 2024. One might wonder
if the same moral urgency applies to the living, starving children of Gaza as it does to the tactical retrieval of deceased individuals.