The Famine in Gaza Was Made in the USA
The people of Gaza are starving because of a man-made famine as Israel draws up plans for a full-scale military occupation. US government officials haven’t just turned a blind eye to the historic atrocities in Gaza — they’ve been cheering them on.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a ceremony in the Oval Office while US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff looks on, in Washington, DC, on May 6, 2025. (Francis Chung / Politico / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Gaza is now experiencing a man-made famine caused by the Israeli blockade, as Benjamin Netanyahu threatens to intensify the onslaught with a full-scale military occupation of the territory.
By the start of August, the Israeli army had gunned down nearly fourteen hundred people desperately seeking food, mostly near sites run by the self-styled Gaza Humanitarian Foundation after the exclusion of legitimate aid groups from Gaza. The United States has supported and enabled these atrocities at every stage, first under Joe Biden and now under Donald Trump.
Akbar Shahid Ahmed is the senior diplomatic correspondent of the Huffington Post, and is now working on a book about the Biden administration and Gaza. This is an edited transcript from Jacobin’s Long Reads podcast. You can listen to the interview here.
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