Samantha Power, the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in an interview Wednesday she told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders last month that they need “to improve compliance with international humanitarian law” and do more to protect civilian life.
Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Samantha Power said “clearly more ... [+]
Samantha Power, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said she made the comment to Netanyahu, the defense minister and others during a visit to Israel in late February in which she was advocating for more aid delivery, the release of hostages and more measures to protect civilians and aid workers.
Speaking virtually at Politico’s Health Care Summit, Power said “even if Hamas doesn’t care about civilian life, and it’s proven that again and again, that doesn’t relieve the obligation of a combatant to observe those principles and to protect civilians,” adding: “Clearly more needs to be done.”
Power also said Israel should not attack Rafah as it’s providing refuge to displaced Palestinians and the U.S. has plans—which would be disrupted by an attack—to build a temporary pier to deliver more aid through the city, Politico reported.
1.4 million. That’s how many Palestinians are taking refuge in Rafah after being displaced throughout the war, according to the Associated Press.
Power’s comments come amid tensions between the Biden Administration and Netanyahu, who has said he will attack Rafah because the city has a number of Hamas battalions they want to destroy. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said it will work to relocate many of the civilians in Rafah to “humanitarian islands” before it begins its attack of the area, the Associated Press reported. On Saturday, Biden said Israel conducting an operation in Rafah would be a “red line” for the administration—something he hadn’t previously said—and added Netanyahu was “hurting Israel more than helping” by conducting the war in this manner. Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel in which it killed about 1,200 people and took about than 240 hostages, more than 31,270 Palestinians have been killed. Israel has faced increasing international calls for a cease-fire and to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza from U.S. leaders and others.