Harris urges Israel to ramp up Gaza aid, citing UN food report 

Vice President Harris on Sunday pushed for Israel to ramp up aid to Gaza, citing a World Food Programme (WFP) report.

“The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need,” Harris said in a post on the social platform X. “Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.”

In a report issued Saturday, the WFP said “that escalating violence in northern Gaza is having a disastrous impact on food security for thousands of Palestinian families” and “that the main crossings into the north have been closed and no food aid has entered since 1 October.”

The WFP reported that places like “[f]ood distribution points, as well as kitchens and bakeries in North Gaza, have been forced to shut down due to” factors including “airstrikes, military ground operations and evacuation orders.”

“The north is basically cut off and we’re not able to operate there,” Antoine Renard, WFP Country Director for Palestine, said in the release. “WFP has been on the ground since the onset of the crisis. We are committed to delivering life-saving food every day despite the mounting challenges, but without safe and sustained access, it is virtually impossible to reach the people in need.”

The war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas passed its first anniversary last week. Over 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war on Oct. 7 of last year, when Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing around 1,200.

Tensions in the Middle East have increased since, with Iran launching a barrage of missiles at Israel earlier this month, following exploding pagers and Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

The Hill has reached out to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.