Israel is still holding up US shipment of flour for Gaza, says senior White House aide

By Jacob Magid

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14 February 2024, 8:28 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

The Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, on January 29, 2024. (Said Khatib/AFP)

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says Israel is still holding up a US shipment of flour for Palestinians in Gaza in violation of commitments Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made to President Joe Biden.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been blocking the shipment because it is slated to be distributed by UNRWA, which is under investigation for 12 of its members’ alleged involvement in the October 7 terror onslaught. Israel is reportedly looking into other avenues for distributing the aid, such as the World Food Program, but the shipment remains at the Ashdod port in the meantime.

“That flour has not moved the way that we had expected it would move, and we expect that Israel will follow through on its commitment to get that flour to Gaza,” Sullivan says when asked about the delay during a White House press briefing.