A report by the American CNN network stated that a state of anxiety and anger has spread within the corners of the administration of President Joe Biden regarding the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip, as the Israeli forces do not show any signs of stopping their continuous attacks, and the number of civilian casualties in the besieged Strip continues to rise.
The report – published on Wednesday – said that a month after the war, some senior American officials privately say that there are aspects of Israeli military operations that they simply cannot defend.
There are increasing calls among government employees for the United States to support a ceasefire, and multiple sources told CNN about employees who are appalled by the continuing images of Palestinian civilians being killed in Israeli air strikes.
A senior official in the Biden administration said, “This has created great ethical concern… but no one can say that because we are all working according to the president’s will and he is involved in everything.”
split
This week, a division emerged between the United States and Israel over the future of Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested – in an interview – that Israel would bear responsibility for security in Gaza “for an indefinite period.” On the other hand, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated his country’s opposition to any “reoccupation” of the Gaza Strip, although “there may be a need for some transitional period at the end of the conflict.”
Some of the fiercest reactions came from within the State Department, including official Josh Paul, who publicly resigned last month over the Biden administration’s approach to the conflict.
Elsewhere in the administration, officials are quietly exasperated as the civilian death toll mounts.
Paul had submitted his resignation due to the Biden administration’s handling of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. He said that he could not support more American military aid to Israel, and described the administration’s response as a “reckless reaction” based on “intellectual bankruptcy.”
“I informed my colleagues today that I resigned from the State Department, due to a political disagreement regarding our continued lethal aid to Israel, and to further clarify my justifications for doing so, I wrote the attached memorandum,” Paul wrote at the time while submitting his justified letter of resignation on LinkedIn.
Open letter
An open letter signed by hundreds of USAID employees urges the Biden administration to call a ceasefire, something the administration has so far rejected.
“For USAID’s efforts to be effective and to save lives, we need an immediate ceasefire and cessation of hostilities,” the letter said.
She added, “We believe that further catastrophic loss of human life can only be avoided if the United States government calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of the Israeli hostages, and the return of water, food, fuel, and electricity to the people of Gaza by the State of Israel.”
A few days ago, Foreign Policy magazine warned Warnings of an upcoming storm gathering in the skies of the US State Department, as many diplomats expressed their anger, shock, and despair at what they considered a “blank check” that the United States granted to Israel in order to launch a large-scale military operation in Gaza At a high humanitarian cost paid by Palestinian civilians in this besieged sector.
The magazine said – in a report – that this anger turned into a “massive wave of opposition” to President Biden’s approach to the war among national security officials, which put his administration in a defensive position internally and externally.
