Nearly two months later, it has received only 3.6% of what it requested from the world, a mere $145.6 million as of February 4.
Why is the world so unwilling to help in what it claims is the most dire humanitarian crisis of our times? This is a situation that has taken over the bulk of the world media's international coverage, pushing Ukraine from the front pages for 16 months and relegating famine in parts of Africa and other crises as mere footnotes if mentioned at all in the media. How can we explain the disconnect between how much the world claims to care about Gazans and how little it actually wants to help Gazans who need help?
One obvious answer is that the world really doesn't care about Palestinians, and it is hate for Israel that fuels the coverage and attention, but not genuine concern for Gazans.
Beyond that, however, is probably a deeper reason.
The UN and NGOs insist that Israel is lying when it says that Hamas is stealing the aid and using it to finance its own operations, and they blame Israel for not allowing aid into Gaza even when the trucks were piling up inside the sector. Now there are few impediments to bringing in aid (Israel still restricts dual-use items but usually approves them after verification) and hundreds of trucks are entering every day, without any fighting or apparent security issues.
Yet despite the huge amounts of food being brought in, the price of food remains sky-high in Gaza. Food that is meant to be distributed for free to Gazans is being sold at inflated prices. The World Food Programme says that the price of the minimum expenditure basket (MEB) is up 552% compared to what it was before the war, but it should be practically zero because all the food staples in the basket are being donated to be given away for free to needy Gazans. Why are the prices still so high?
Because Hamas continues to steal the aid and then sell it at inflated prices, as they have done throughout the war. Everyone knows this.
This is why the world doesn't want to send more than a minimal amount of aid into Gaza. No one wants to waste money. But they don't want to admit this, so they obfuscate the truth by continuing to blame Israel.
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