Witkoff, Starvation and Gaza

By Ali Saada

The visit of US envoy Steve Witkoff to the Gaza Strip is nothing more than a certificate of good conduct to war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and his gang, and an endorsement for them to continue their war of starvation and to implementing their plan, which aligns with the desires, wishes, and dreams of Donald Trump and his “Gaza Riviera.”

It is an attempt to abort, calm, and cool the growing international outcry and anger over the massacres perpetrated against those awaiting aid, and an attempt to whitewash the ugly face of the US administration.

This is a propaganda and media appearance, drenched in blood, at the expense of the suffering and lives of Gaza’s children and women, by officials who lack even the most basic sense of humanity. This is intended to present a “false” image of the humanitarian situation, to downplay the impact of the images of famine and starvation spreading globally, and to suggest that the situation is under control.

What the occupation wants is an agreement that preserves its interests and ensures the removal of Hamas from power. This agreement may include arrangements for the “transfer of the population of the Gaza Strip,” without committing to reconstruction or substantially alleviating the humanitarian situation.

The agreement should be limited to the entry of aid, a partial withdrawal, a prisoner exchange, and a permanent ceasefire.

In any case, the US administration bears full responsibility for the worsening famine in the Gaza Strip. According to dozens of UN organizations and civil society institutions, including Israeli “human rights” organizations, as well as press and human rights reports, the occupation is committing genocide and, along with American snipers and mercenaries, has transformed aid distribution centers into death traps.

The US aid company has become a lethal criminal tool contributing to the engineering of hunger and the killing of civilians, in a scheme that goes beyond starvation and killing to the destruction of the foundations of Palestinian life and existence, as a starting point for the forced displacement project. The US administration is an essential part of the war of starvation against the Palestinian people, working directly to support the occupation and cover up its crimes.

Wittkoff’s visit to the US aid company is an official American cover for continuing its crimes against the starving and an attempt to point to a blatant moral collapse. It is an attempt to beautify the image of the occupation and fabricate lies about the reality of aid. The truth is that famine is spreading and expanding in the Strip, amid the blocking of aid, the closure of crossings, and the creation of chaos in Gaza by aid-stealing gangs operating under Israeli protection.

Witkoff’s visit is clear evidence of the need to include the United States in the cases before the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as a de facto partner and complicit in the genocide and war crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

This article was originally published in Arabic in Al Sabeel electronic newspaper in Amman.