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With a flood of conflicting reports — misrepresented images, disputed news stories, claims of intentional starvation — and no Western press on the ground in Gaza, I believed that the only way to get to the truth was to visit the region and see it with my own eyes.
That’s why earlier this month, I traveled to Israel with a bipartisan group from the House Intelligence Committee to meet with Israel’s leaders and those from the Palestinian Authority, engage with aid organizations, and see the situation on the ground for myself.
Our focus centered on two critical goals: making sure that lifesaving aid reaches innocent civilians in Gaza and defeating Hamas — the terrorist organization that launched this brutal war on Oct. 7, 2023.
I visited Kerem Shalom, a central crossing point for aid in Israel, where I saw countless trucks filled with food and supplies waiting to enter Gaza. I also visited a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution command center, where American contractors are working tirelessly to safely distribute aid.
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The problem is not a lack of aid — it’s that too little of it ever reaches the people who need it most. I saw pallets of food, clothing and other items cross swiftly from Israel into Gaza — within minutes of arrival. On the Gaza side, aid trucks sat idle, unmoving.
Make no mistake, the need to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza is urgent. I made this clear to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But Hamas owns the blame for the failed distribution to children and families.
Even the United Nations, which has been no fan of Israel, reports that nearly 90% of its aid is intercepted before reaching civilians. Why? The U.N. refuses to allow any protection of their trucks by the IDF, resulting in aid being looted before it ever gets to Palestinians. Without protection, it’s open season.
We’ve all seen the videos of desperate Palestinians throwing themselves onto moving trucks to grab food, often risking and losing their lives. We’ve seen Hamas attacking the trucks and drivers, stealing aid intended for civilians. They use it to resupply their fighters and to sell it for a massive profit on the black market. Last year alone, Hamas pocketed more than $500 million in stolen aid.
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This is not just a humanitarian crisis — it’s a cruel strategy to profit from civilian suffering.
There is a better strategy. At the GHF distribution command center, I saw how secure distribution sites are successfully countering Hamas. The sites are built to prevent looting, so the aid actually reaches those who need it. GHF now accounts for up to 20% of all aid entering Gaza, with far greater success – and more sites are expected to come online imminently.
Yet, instead of supporting this approach, both the U.N. and the World Food Program refuse to work with the GHF, leaving aid piled up at crossings. That must change. More coordination with the GHF and Israel would get food to families faster, drive down prices and cut off Hamas’ financial lifeline.
It’s obvious why Hamas doesn’t want the GHF to succeed — they can’t steal or sell the aid. At GHF sites, Palestinians actually receive a box filled with three days’ worth of food for their family.
Hamas has made closing GHF a top ceasefire demand and regularly blames GHF for civilian deaths at aid sites without evidence. In reality, many of these deaths occur as desperate civilians crowd U.N. convoys or when Hamas fighters instigate violence near GHF sites. In June alone, Hamas targeted and killed at least eight GHF workers trying to distribute aid to Palestinian families.
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Ultimately, aid delivery is critical to our broader fight against Hamas.
After visiting Kerem Shalom, I went to nearby Kibbutz Kfar Aza, where Hamas terrorists murdered 80 Israelis and kidnapped 19 on Oct. 7, part of the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. In total, Hamas brutally murdered, raped, burned alive, decapitated and kidnapped more than a thousand innocent people, including 46 Americans. Walking those grounds was a searing reminder that Hamas started this war and has no regard for life, Israeli or Palestinian, and will stop at nothing to stay in power.
Nearly two years after Oct. 7, Hamas is starving the 20 remaining living hostages, as recent videos show. One hostage, whose family I met with, was forced to dig his own grave. The remains of two dead Americans are still being held.
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But most of this is not being widely reported. It’s why I urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to let Western press into Gaza — to see what I saw at the crossing. The world needs to know that Hamas — not Israel — is preventing food from reaching innocent Palestinians.
Our mission remains clear: get humanitarian aid directly to civilians, secure the release of hostages and remove Hamas from power so that it can never again carry out the atrocities of Oct. 7. That is how we protect America’s national security, stand by our key democratic ally in the fight against terror and help bring hope to the people of Gaza who deserve a future free from Hamas’ reign of terror.
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