Israel

Report: Blinken Lied to Congress About Israel Blocking Gaza Aid

SEP 26 2024·Updated SEP 29 2024

Story

Above: Pres. Joe Biden (C) presides over a cabinet meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) at the White House on Sept. 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is facing calls for his resignation, over allegations he ignored the findings of government agencies focused on humanitarian assistance and lied to Congress about Israel's allegedly deliberate Gaza aid blockade.
ProPublica
Al Jazeera
Common Dreams
The US Agency for International Development and the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration had reportedly told Blinken, along with top diplomats, about allegations concerning Israel's killing of aid workers, razing of agricultural structures, and bombing of medical infrastructure.
ProPublica
TRT World
However, Blinken told Congress in May that the State Department doesn't "currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance."
Rolling Stone
Al Jazeera
Under US law, the federal government must halt weapons shipments to countries obstructing the delivery of American humanitarian aid.
ProPublica
Blinken on Wednesday said that he "had different assessments from different parts of the State Department," concluding that "Israel needed to do a better job on ... humanitarian assistance."
The New Republic
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) — the only Palestinian American in Congress — on Thursday called on Blinken to resign over his rejection of internal government findings. This also comes as the GOP-majority US House Foreign Affairs Committee this week recommended to hold Blinken in contempt over the Afghanistan probe.
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The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The US has worked to support Israel's right to defend itself from terrorist attacks — such as Hamas' massacres on Oct. 7 — while pushing for diplomacy and humanitarian access. It has consistently applied pressure on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and though there's still much work to be done, these efforts have been largely successful.

CNN

Establishment-critical narrative

ProPublica's report is a damning piece of evidence proving that the US government has armed Israel to the teeth while ignoring its many war crimes, which is a breach of US law. Blinken and Pres. Joe Biden's efforts to shield Israel from any accountability is a shameful reminder that the US will support Israel even as it commits genocide.

Al Jazeera