Why is there a Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza?

Is this “Too little, too late” again?

image by Business Insider

• October 7, 2023: Hamas attacked Israel, raping hundreds, slaughtering more than 1,200 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostages.

Image by National Post

• October 19, 2023: Egypt refused to accept refugees from Gaza.
• October 20, 2023: Jordan agreed with Egypt’s policy.
• November — December 20: Gazan civilians fled to the south, ahead of the fighting.
• December 4, 2023: After months of warnings to civilians and orders for evacuation from Gaza, Israel began a counterattack, driving from northern Gaza south toward the Egyptian border.

Image pexels-timofeev-12180098

• February — March 2024: As the war continued, refugees who fled northern Gaza began to need aid in the form of food, water and medical assistance.

mage pexels-ibrahim-al-aorfali-11635860

• March 2024: The war impeded delivery of humanitarian aid, and many Gazans risked starvation.
• March 26, 2024: While Israel conducted the war with excessive care to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties, the United Nations accused Israel of genocide.
• April 2024: As Israeli forces gradually moved the fight south, the southern city of Rafah became overrun with nearly 2 million Gazan refugees, all in serious need of aid.
• Early May 2024: ~2 million Gazans remained trapped in southern Gaza between the border of Egypt and the fighting in Rafah. Desperate for aid, many were starving while awaiting essential humanitarian supplies.
• May 7, 2024: The Biden administration withheld weapons promised to Israel because of its conduct of the war, likely delaying Israel’s completion of its goal to eradicate Hamas.
• Late May 2024: Israel evacuated nearly 1 million Gazan civilians to escape Rafah.

What should have happened to preclude this disaster?

• In December or January, the U.S. should have convinced other Arab countries (e.g. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar) to accept refugees from Gaza. The U.S. had plenty of leverage.
• Those countries could have organized desert areas to establish secure temporary camps to which humanitarian aid would have been delivered.
• Refugees could have been evacuated to the camps before they were desperate, near starvation.

Had the United States shown such leadership, Israel might have finished the war by destroying Hamas in a few weeks; there would have been no needless humanitarian crisis.

This situation seems eerily familiar, similar to the Biden administration’s support of Ukraine since 2022.

• After Ukraine’s invasion by Russia in 2022, the U.S. pledged to provide whatever is needed to drive out the invader, in coordination with NATO allies.
• Weapons were ultimately provided to Ukraine, but most of them were delivered too little, too late.
• Had the U.S. delivered the missile systems and jet fighters in 2022, rather than in 2023 and 2024, Ukraine might have driven Russian forces out of Ukraine in a few months.