Netanyahu tells WFP chief McCain Israel will ‘redouble efforts’ to boost Gaza aid

Prime Minister Netanyahu met United Nations World Food Programme executive director Cindy McCain in Jerusalem yesterday for a “constructive meeting concerning the ongoing and continued provision of humanitarian aid to Gazan civilians,” they say in a joint statement.

The meeting comes days after the global hunger monitor Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) declared for the first time that famine has struck the densely populated northern Gaza Strip. After visiting Gaza earlier this week, McCain also met yesterday with IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, Foreign Ministry director-general Eden Bar Tal and COGAT chief Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, as well as today with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Ramallah.

Netanyahu and McCain discuss “the importance of protecting civilians from hunger and malnutrition and ensuring that their basic essential needs are met” and note the increase in aid entering Gaza over the past month.

According to their statement, Netanyahu and McCain agree to “redouble efforts to expedite and sustain the entry of humanitarian goods into Gaza given the dire needs on the ground.”

They also agree that, wherever possible, aid must reach “the most vulnerable people where they are.” The language of the joint statement seems to indicate an impending reform to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation model, which sees Gazans walk several kilometers in dangerous conditions to receive aid.

The IDF said this week it was opening two new GHF sites in southern Gaza and closing one. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said earlier this month that plans were in place for GHF to expand operations to 16 sites, with overcrowding a constant issue at existing centers.

Netanyahu and McCain also agree “that humanitarian aid is provided exclusively to civilians.” Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid and using it to fund its operations against Israeli forces.

Speaking to the Associated Press, McCain says that she “personally met mothers and children who were starving in Gaza. It is real and it is happening now.”

Netanyahu, she says, was “obviously very concerned that people aren’t getting enough food,” and that “we agreed that we must immediately redouble our efforts to get more humanitarian aid in. Access and security for our convoys is critical.”