Biden’s announcement of coming airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza was met with praise and criticism from Congress members.
President Joe Biden announced his plans to drop meals into the war-torn Gaza following news that an attempt to deliver aid to Palestinians ended in a chaotic and deadly scene. On Saturday, three C130 planes delivered 38,000 meals Saturday. Some, like Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), praised the effort.
“President Biden is right to order these airdrops and provide immediate assistance where it is sorely needed,” Reed wrote in a statement. “Israel was brutally attacked on October 7th and I stand with the Israeli people as they degrade and defeat the threat from Hamas. However, tragic incidents like yesterday show that the Netanyahu government must do more to protect innocent life and increase humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. Not only is it the right thing to do morally, it’s in Israel’s best strategic interests.”
“I support this move by the president,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) told Axios in a statement. “We have to explore all possible paths to get aid into Gaza, especially since we know Hamas doesn’t care about the people of Gaza.”
Others expressed concern about the possible ramifications of sending aid to the region.
“If it gets to the children that’s great but the problem we have had in the past is aid gets to the enemy,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) said.
“We didn’t send aid to Germany and Japan in 1944. Let Israel finish the fight with Hamas and then send aid. Sending aid now helps Hamas,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) said.
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Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) analyzed Biden’s decision to send aid over 140 days into the conflict as a direct result of the Michigan Democratic Primary. Banks claimed Biden was “basing his foreign policy on a Michigan election that he’s going to lose.”
In Michigan’s primary last week, activists organized a movement for Democratic voters to vote “uncommitted” on primary ballots as a form of protest against the president’s stance in favor of Israel. The effort resulted in over 100,000 “uncommitted” votes and Biden lost two delegates, who are now free to vote for any candidate they’d like later this year.
