USAID Gaza Warnings Blocked From Senior US Officials

By Staff, Agencies

Internal warnings drafted by US Agency for International Development (USAID) staff in early 2024 describing northern Gaza as an “apocalyptic wasteland” were prevented from reaching senior levels of the US government, despite detailing severe humanitarian devastation following “Israel’s” military assault, Reuters reported on Friday.

The suppressed February 2024 cable was compiled three months after the start of the war and drew on United Nations fact-finding missions conducted in January and February.

According to former US officials and documents reviewed by Reuters, the report included graphic firsthand accounts of mass casualties, abandoned bodies, exposed human remains, and what officials described as “catastrophic human needs,” particularly shortages of food and safe drinking water.

Sources said the cable was blocked from wider circulation by US Ambassador to “Israel” Jack Lew and his deputy, Stephanie Hallett, who argued that the assessment lacked sufficient balance. Neither Lew nor Hallett responded to requests for comment.

Former USAID officials told Reuters the report was one of at least five cables sent in early 2024 documenting the rapid collapse of health services, sanitation systems, food access, and social order for Palestinians in Gaza. All five were either restricted or prevented from reaching senior policymakers.

Three former US officials said the descriptions were unusually stark and would likely have drawn immediate attention had they circulated within the administration of former President Joe Biden.

They added the cables could have increased scrutiny of a National Security Memorandum issued that month, which conditioned US military and intelligence assistance on “Israel’s” compliance with international law.

Andrew Hall, then a USAID crisis operations specialist, said the cables would have represented formal acknowledgment of conditions on the ground in Gaza.