More than 24 former senior Biden administration officials directly involved in shaping U.S. policy toward Israel's war in Gaza described deep divisions over humanitarian access. One camp urged pressing Israel to follow the Geneva Conventions on civilian protection and aid; another favored allowing Israel space to fight Hamas while quietly promoting increased aid for civilians. A U.N.-backed panel of experts on food insecurity confirmed famine in Gaza. Some officials said the administration helped prevent famine, while bitter debates occurred over measures to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including possibly withholding U.S. weapons. Detailed calls about daily aid flows sometimes obscured the broader strategic picture. A separate shooting at a Minneapolis church and school killed two children and wounded 17; the shooter was identified as Robin Westman.
As Palestinians suffer under famine, NPR reporters have spoken with over 24 former senior Biden administration officials who were directly involved in shaping U.S. policy towards Israel's war in Gaza. Many of them shared a common question: Did the U.S. do enough to prevent this? The interviews highlighted tensions within two main camps of the administration regarding how to approach the issue of humanitarian access.
Some officials told NPR that the Biden administration helped prevent famine from happening in Gaza, according to NPR's Kat Lonsdorf, who worked with reporters Fatma Tanis and Tom Bowman on the exclusive. Former officials discussed with them the strong and sometimes bitter arguments about how far the U.S. was willing to go to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including possibly withholding U.S. weapons.
Former officials discussed with them the strong and sometimes bitter arguments about how far the U.S. was willing to go to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including possibly withholding U.S. weapons. There was frustration with Israel; very senior officials, including Biden, would spend hours on the phone with Israel, focusing on specifics of how much aid Gaza was receiving daily. Officials said those conversations often meant that the U.S. was bogged down with those details, sometimes losing the bigger picture.
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