United Nations, November 13 (RHC)-- Hundreds of staffers at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have signed a letter calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, as a growing number of government employees voice dissent against U.S. support for Israel’s military offensive there.
The letter, which started circulating last week, reached 1,000 signatures, representing officials from across USAID’s departments and overseas missions.
“While we appreciate and acknowledge efforts by USAID to call for an urgent humanitarian response in Gaza and understand that the Agency is working tirelessly to make this happen, we must remember that humanitarian assistance efforts and life-saving aid are largely rendered moot in situations of escalating and indiscriminate bombing and violence,” the letter said.
USAID is responsible for overseeing the U,S,’s foreign development and humanitarian aid across the world.
In the letter, first revealed by Foreign Policy magazine and The Washington Post on November 3, the employees decry the “numerous violations of international law” and the mounting civilian death toll in Gaza.
“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 Israeli hostages, and the restoration of water, food, fuel, and electricity to the people of Gaza by the State of Israel,” it reads.
“In the longer term, we call on the United States Government to join the international community and human rights organizations in holding all parties, including the State of Israel, to international law, which includes ending Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories and settlements on occupied land.”
In a statement to Al Jazeera shared on condition of anonymity, one of the USAID staffers who authored the letter voiced particular dismay at Washington’s decision to veto a UN Security Council resolution last month calling for a humanitarian pause to the fighting.
The staff member also stressed that humanitarian aid to Gaza without stopping the war is not enough.
“Many humanitarian officials from many different conflict zones agree that aid cannot be a Band-Aid to a problem that requires a political solution. The people of Gaza need aid, but first they need the bombs to stop,” the staffer said.
“Many USAID officials, particularly those in Middle East missions and bureaus, are tired of trying to programme foreign aid and humanitarian assistance in response to political and foreign policy errors and war crimes that the US [government] is supporting.”
