WASHINGTON
Dozens of people gathered outside the White House on Sunday to protest Israel’s ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, where more than 2 million Palestinians remain on the brink of famine.
Banging metal kitchenware and displaying signs reading “Let the food trucks in” and “Israel stop starving Gaza,” protesters marched in Lafayette Square to demand an end to the blockade and US support for Israel. Some displayed photos of children who have died from malnutrition and re-enacted the deaths of Palestinians killed while seeking food.
“Time is running out,” read one of the large banners.
The protest comes amid growing international outrage over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Aid agencies report mass displacement, starvation, and rising child mortality as a result of months-long Israeli restrictions on food, medicine, and humanitarian access.
“People are being starved in front of our eyes,” said Lucha Bright, a member of Refuse Fascism. “Israel is completely backed by the United States and has been given a green light.”
“They’re remaking the Middle East in front of our eyes. It is a crime against humanity, and we are here to say it has to stop,” she added. “Millions of us need to be in the streets, refusing to allow a genocide in front of our eyes.”
Organizer Hazami Barmada said on Instagram that the protest aimed to call for “food for Gaza, for unrestricted aid, for the humanity and dignity of Palestinians to stop being taken away or stripped by Israel.” She urged the White House to “do its job” and help end the blockade.
Since May 27, Israel has launched a separate aid initiative via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which bypasses the UN and major relief organizations. The GHF, backed by the US, has been widely rejected by the humanitarian community.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to shoot at Palestinians gathering near aid distribution points, killing hundreds.
“They have to stop sending any arms at all to Israel. There have to be international sanctions,” said Carolyn Karcher of Jewish Voice for Peace. “The UN and international agencies need to be allowed (in) and Israel needs to be forced to give them full access as soon as possible.”
Another member, Martin, said they hoped to make US officials “realize that they’re complicit in the genocide in Gaza.”
“We are no longer talking about hypotheticals,” he said. “We're talking about what's happening on the ground.”
Israel on Sunday conducted another aid airdrop over Gaza and announced plans for temporary pauses in fighting to allow safe delivery. But protesters say this is too little, too late.
“The people of Palestine are in a famine right now,” said protester Joseph Ip. “If you feed them now, they’re still not going to survive. They need medical care.”
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 133 people—including 87 children—have died of starvation since October. Israel, which has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, has kept all crossings shut since March 2, defying international calls to reopen them.
