News12 reporter Yaron Avraham on Thursday night related a difficult conversation that was held on behalf of the Biden administration with a senior Israeli official, which was, as Avraham put it, “Essentially a kind of reprimanding conversation about Israeli conduct within the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli official who received the wisdom of the American envoy was Major General Ghassan Alian, head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, and one of the highest-ranking Druze officers in the IDF.
The American official was Lise Grande, the State Department’s Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues. Before assuming this position, she served as president and CEO of the U.S. Institute of Peace. And before that she served for 25 years at the United Nations. Grande was responsible for the UN’s humanitarian, stabilization, and development operations while serving as deputy head of the UN’s political mission in Iraq.
So, according to Avraham, Lise Grande meets with the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Alian, and conveys to him a series of American demands:
1. Israel must issue an official statement that it is not pursuing a policy of starvation in Gaza
2. Cancel the evacuation orders for the populations in Gaza
3. Allow the population to return to previously evacuated areas
4. Present a comprehensive plan to minimize damage to civilian infrastructure
American officials who spoke to News12 strongly suggested that it was a good conversation, even if it included constructive criticism, and added one more thing the envoy said to the coordinator:
“There are elements in our administration who believe that the damage to civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is disproportionate.”
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories was astonished by the American’s criticism, especially its timing, when pressure should have been put on Hamas for a hostage deal, and especially after Israel had complied with American demands to increase the scope of humanitarian aid, and he told the envoy:
“What proportionality is expected of the IDF in its activities against a terrorist organization that deliberately operates a combat strategy from within the civilian environment and civilian humanitarian facilities – including hospitals, residential buildings, UN facilities, and more – at a time when there are still 100 Israeli hostages in these spaces… I am puzzled by your suggestion that we are pursuing a policy of deliberate starvation.”
Had Israel not been forced by its major supplier of arms and ammunition to supply its enemy in Gaza with the means of remaining in control over the civilian population; had there really been a starvation policy in place, Hamas would have been destroyed by a combination of IDF attacks and a civilian uprising. But the Biden administration, in its wisdom, gave life and a second chance to Hamas to regroup and thrive.
For this, we’ll never forgive them.
