US envoy to UN says Israeli promise to get aid into north Gaza is ‘not happening’

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield expresses her horror over reports that no food assistance has reached the northern Gaza cities of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya in nearly a month.

“The United States has made clear to Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu that one year into this conflict, Israel must address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza; that the United States rejects any Israeli efforts to starve Palestinians in Jabalia, or anywhere else; and that Israel’s words must be matched by action on the ground,” Thomas-Greenfield says in her remarks to UN Security Council session on the war in Gaza.

“Right now, that is not happening. This must change immediately,” she adds.

“The US has stated clearly that Israel must allow food, medicine, and other supplies into all of Gaza – especially the north, and especially as winter sets in – and protect the workers distributing it,” says the envoy, appearing to reference an October 13 letter to Israel in which the US warned that continued supply of offensive weapons is at risk if Jerusalem doesn’t take drastic steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

While recognizing Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure, Thomas-Greenfield says the “harrowing reports of medical staff being arrested by Israeli forces at hospitals in northern Gaza are also deeply troubling. We urge Israel to publicly address these allegations immediately.”