Bernie Sanders calls out ‘starvation caucus’ over cut to Gaza food aid. What to know

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders criticized his colleagues for their willingness to cut United Nations food aid to Palestinians, calling them members of a “starvation caucus.”

His comments, made during a floor speech on March 21, come as Congress is poised to pass a $1.2 trillion spending package that would prohibit funding for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

Under the bill, the agency — the primary supplier of food for Gazans during the Israel-Hamas war — would be stripped of American funding until March 2025. The United States has historically been the largest contributor to UNRWA.

“Tragically, many members of Congress seem to be happy to be part of this starvation caucus, happy to cut funding for UNRWA and make it harder to get aid to Palestinians in the midst of this crisis,” Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, said.

Around 32,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s war in Gaza as of March 21, the majority being women and children. Additionally, the vast majority of the territory’s population has been displaced.

Why is aid being cut?

Congress’ effort to cut the agency’s funding follows an Israeli government allegation that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel, which says 1,200 citizens and foreigners were killed in the assault.

According to the Israeli government — detailed in documents obtained by the Associated Press — seven employees invaded Israeli territory, including one accused of engaging in a kidnapping and another accused of stealing a soldier’s body.

Gilad Erdan, the permanent representative for Israel to the U.N., said in early March that UNRWA was “always part of the problem and never part of the solution,” according to Voice of America.

“UNRWA will never again operate in Gaza as it has prior to October 7,” Erdan said. “Its role in Gaza is finished, and it must be replaced immediately. UNRWA must be defunded and dismantled.”

After the allegations came to light in January, the employees in question were immediately fired and the U.N. opened an investigation into the matter.

Shortly after, the Biden Administration announced it was suspending “outlying or yet to be allocated funds” for UNRWA pending the investigation’s results. Multiple other countries also joined in on the funding freeze, including the U.K., Germany, Italy and Canada.

“These are serious charges, and they’re being investigated in a serious way,” Sanders, who is Jewish, said. He also noted the Israeli government has declined to cooperate with the U.N. investigation.

“Whatever the outcome of this investigation,” Sanders added, “you do not starve millions of people and hundreds of thousands of children because of the alleged actions of 12 UNRWA employees out of a workforce of 30,000.”

‘One step away from famine’

The proposed funding cuts in Congress’ spending package come as much of Gaza’s population teeters on the brink of starvation.

Around half a million people — about one quarter of Gaza’s population — are “one step away from famine,” a senior U.N. official warned in late February.

The Israeli government has blocked the majority of humanitarian aid offered to Gaza, according to a March report from OxFam, a British nongovernmental organization.

Trucks carrying food and other aid are kept stranded for weeks while awaiting entry into the enclave, and the cargo is “routinely and arbitrarily” rejected, per the report.

As a result of the stalled aid, the U.S. and other countries have resorted to air dropping supplies into Gaza, which aid officials have said is not sufficient.

“It is difficult to look at these facts and not see at worst an intentional Israeli effort to starve the people of Gaza of what they need to survive, and at best, at best, a complete disregard for Palestinian life,” Sanders said.

“History will judge what we do right now,” Sanders concluded. “History will judge whether we stand with starving children, whether we uphold American values or we provide massive aid to a war machine which is operating in an unbelievably barbaric way.”

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