US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has faced calls for resignation after he had reportedly ignored assessments by two government agencies which concluded that Israel was blocking American aid to Gaza.
An investigation by ProPublica revealed that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department's refugee bureau had communicated their concerns to Blinken and other top officials in April.
According to US law, countries that block US humanitarian aid should have arms shipments cut off. Washington has provided Tel Aviv with billions of dollars in military aid and arms sales throughout the course of the assault on Gaza.
ProPublica said the 17-page USAID report presented to Blinken detailed "instances of Israeli interference with aid efforts, including killing aid workers, razing agricultural structures, bombing ambulances and hospitals, sitting on supply depots and routinely turning away trucks full of food and medicine".
On May 10, Blinken delivered a State Department report to Congress insisting that Israel had not blocked aid to Gaza despite the findings of the USAID report, which described the situation in the Palestinian enclave earlier this year as "one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in the world".
USAID officials also recommended that arms exports to Israel be paused.
Similar conclusions were reached by the head of the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, who recommended that the Foreign Assistance Act be triggered to freeze $830 million in US aid for arms for Israel, according to emails seen by ProPublica.
Officials in the department concluded that "facts on the ground indicate US humanitarian assistance is being restricted".
From the beginning of Israel's deadly assault on Gaza in October, Israel's government ordered a full siege on the enclave, blocking entry of food, medical equipment and supplies, water and electricity.
According to Gaza's government media office, at least 34 children have died of malnutrition this year.
The war crime of starvation is one of the charges that was levelled against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan's application for arrest warrants in May.
The ProPublica report's revelations have drawn calls for Blinken to resign from his post, including from opposition figures and non-government bodies.
"Antony Blinken lied to Congress even though he knew Israel was deliberately starving Gaza - all to keep arming the genocide. We demand that @SecBlinken resign and that @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris stop illegally arming Israel NOW!" wrote Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein on X.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) also weighed in, similarly calling for the secretary of state to step down.
"We're calling for the resignation of@SecBlinken after @propublica reports revealed he misled Congress about Israel's deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza – a violation of U.S. law. The American people deserve leaders who tell the truth. It's time to hold the Biden administration accountable for its ongoing complicity in the Israeli genocide in Gaza. #ResignBlinken #FreeGaza #EndTheBlockade," the group wrote in a statement on X.