This image taken from video shows US Democratic Senators Chris Van Hollen of Maryland (L) and Jeff Merkley of Oregon at King Abdullah II Air Force Base in Jordan. Photo: Chris Van Hollen/X
“Netanyahu is restricting aid trucks into Gaza — the best way to get food to starving people there — so Jordan is delivering some with air drops,” Senator Van Hollen wrote on X.
“The Jordanians said Senator Jeff Merkley and I could join one of those flights to see the devastation, but Israel denied authorisation for our scheduled flight,” he added.
Hollen, the Democrat from Maryland, said Israel had also barred him and Merkley, a fellow Democrat from Oregon, from entering Gaza “to see first-hand the destruction.”
On Friday, the two senators visited the Karm Abu Salem crossing, one of the main entry points for aid into Gaza, where they inspected humanitarian deliveries.
Van Hollen later wrote that the “so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s delivery system is fatally flawed.”
“People are starving. The Netanyahu government must let more food into Gaza NOW,” he insisted.
Both American lawmakers have been outspoken critics of Israel’s handling of humanitarian aid during the Gaza war.
Short link: