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It's Unfair to Criticize Israel on Aid to Gaza
(Telegraph-UK) Col. Richard Kemp - In the middle of a war, the White House is threatening America's closest ally in the Middle East with cutting off arms supply in 30 days if its demands are not met. The U.S. is ordering Israel to facilitate increased aid delivery. But I have witnessed first-hand the Israel Defense Forces' efforts to get aid into Gaza. Israel's policy has been to flood Gaza with aid. Israel has created new aid crossing points and built roads inside Gaza specifically for aid delivery. I am not aware of any other conflict in which one of the combatants has taken such steps, or anything like them, to get aid to its enemy's population at the same time as it is actively involved in combat operations. But as with so much else in this conflict, different rules and standards are expected of Israel than the U.S. would even consider applying to itself or any other country. Any shortage of vital commodities should not be blamed on Israel, but on the failure by the UN and other agencies to actually deliver the aid to the people who need it. The UN's efforts have been impeded by inefficiency, but even more by Hamas's seizure of aid. Media reports have shown Hamas terrorists proclaiming that their warehouses are full. Blaming Israel for the humanitarian crisis rewards Hamas, empowers its continuing terrorist campaign, and will help prolong the conflict. Where are the demands on Egypt to allow refugees to cross onto their side of the border? Where are the demands on Cairo to re-open the Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza? The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK's national crisis management committee, COBRA.