On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof stated that if you simply drop food aid into Gaza, it will be stolen by Hamas.
Kristof stated, “So, one reason for the tragedy yesterday was that Israel apparently did not want to have food aid delivered through UNRWA, the U.N. organization that it has made a lot of allegations against and that may well have had twelve people participate in the October 7 attacks. It has also been reluctant to work with traditional aid agencies. And so, it apparently had contractors protected by Israeli tanks try to go in. And look, the people who know how to deliver aid are those aid agencies, including UNRWA. They have that — those people on the ground, that network. And what you need to make airdrops work…is also that group — those people on the ground who collect pallets when they’re dropped, who protect it from just some random gunman seizing it. If you just drop food aid, who’s going to get it? It’s going to be Hamas, not the most vulnerable people.”
Kristof also argued that President Joe Biden should put more pressure on Israel on aid and criticized him for pausing funding for UNRWA.
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
