Muslim civil rights group says ‘administration must force the Israeli government to stop slaughtering and starving children’
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said President Biden must act on his administration’s “30-day threat” to restrict military aid to the far-right Israeli government as Israeli authorities are reportedly allowing only 30 trucks of aid a day to enter Gaza, bringing assistance to its “lowest in a long time.”
In October, the Biden administration sent a letter to the Israeli government demanding it allow humanitarian aid into Gaza within 30 days or risk facing legally required limits on U.S. weapons transfers. The letter by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer said Israel’s failure to take concrete measures “may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law.” At that time, CAIR said there is “no need to wait 30 days.”
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini has said Israel has blocked assistance entering Gaza to its “lowest in a long time.” This is equivalent to only six percent of commercial and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza before the war broke out on October 7, 2023, he said. Lazzarini warned this was insufficient to respond to the needs of over 2 million people, “many of whom are starving, sick and in desperate conditions.”
Israel has officially notified the UN of its decision to cut ties with UNRWA, the primary supplier of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“It is clear Netanyahu’s genocidal government is ignoring the Biden administration’s threatened deadline. Children are starving and dying every day under the Israeli government’s medieval siege. Those suffering under Israel’s extermination campaign – particularly in northern Gaza – cannot wait for an arbitrary deadline for action. The Biden administration must force the Israeli government to stop slaughtering and starving children.”
He noted that yesterday, CAIR condemned the far-right Israeli government’s reported flattening of whole areas of Gaza, including homes and mosques, by civilian contractors.
SEE: CAIR Condemns Flattening of Gaza Homes, Mosque by Private Israeli Companies
END
CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com