Foreign Affairs 20-10-2025 Debating the Biden Administration’s Record

Who Is to Blame for the Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza?

Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (Israeli Ambassador to the United States);
Andy Hall (Formerly served on the Disaster Assistance Response Team DART)
in reply to "How to Stop a Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza" (Foreign Affaris 14-08-2025) by Jacob J. Lew (US Ambassador to Israel) and David Setterfield (US Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Needs"

The two articles present two contrasting arguments regarding who is to blame for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and specifically debating the Biden administration's record up to the end of Joe Biden's presidency.

1. Blame according to Yechiel (Michael) Leiter

Yechiel (Michael) Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, argues that the blame does not lie with Israel but rather with Hamas's diversion of aid and the incompetence and political motivations of UN affiliates.

Key Points of Leiter's Argument:

• Israel's Policy and Actions: Israel "implemented... continuously and assiduously" a clear policy that Gaza must not reach a state of famine. Between October 2023 and September 2025, Israel facilitated the transfer of over two million tons of humanitarian aid, which he claims exceeded the minimum standard set by the Sphere Handbook.

• Hamas Aid Diversion: Leiter argues that the root cause of the crisis is the substantial diversion of aid by Hamas.

  • This diversion includes the physical takeover of aid, imposing taxes and fees, and smuggling prohibited goods.

  • Israeli intelligence assessed that in 2024, aid diversion generated an estimated $500 million in revenue for Hamas, financing its efforts and prolonging the war.

  • He refutes the claim that the US government or UN lacked evidence, stating he is "aware of many meetings" where Israeli representatives presented evidence of Hamas diversion to senior U.S. officials.

• UN Incompetence and Political Agenda: Leiter blames UN affiliates' incompetence for failures in aid delivery, particularly during the summer.

  • He cites the UN's refusal to cooperate with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which was established to prevent diversion and deliver food directly.

  • He alleges that the UN used its complaints about aid delivery as a "coercive means to pressure Israel politically," linking them to calls for an end to the war, which he argues is outside their mandate.

2. Blame according to Andy Hall

Andy Hall, a former member of the USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), argues that the Biden administration, Israel's military offensive, and Israeli restrictions on aid access are to blame for enabling the catastrophe.

Key Points of Hall's Argument:

• Biden Administration Complicity: Hall's central accusation is that the Biden administration was complicit in the suffering of Palestinians.

  • High-level officials, including Lew and Satterfield, censored, restricted, and undermined DART reporting on the dire humanitarian needs and Israeli obstructions.

  • He alleges they downplayed Gazans' needs and overstated Israel's efforts to facilitate aid, citing examples of Satterfield inflating truck count numbers and Lew making unsupported assertions.

  • Biden officials failed to hold Israel accountable for violations of international humanitarian law, ignoring a detailed memo from USAID experts documenting Israeli violations and continuing arms shipments.

  • They forced the USAID-funded FEWS NET to remove a report in December 2024 that warned of likely famine in North Gaza Governorate, prioritizing Israeli government data.

• Israeli Restrictions and Offensive: Hall states that a severe and sustained hunger and malnutrition crisis occurred under the Biden administration "thanks to Israel’s military offensive and cyclical Israeli restrictions on aid access."

  • He notes that by the end of Biden's presidency, 90% of Gaza's population had been forcibly displaced, and the IPC reported that over 1.9 million people had been plunged into acute food insecurity.

• Famine and Suffering Pre-Declaration: Hall asserts that the famine officially declared in August 2025 was a continuation of a "calamity" that Biden officials failed to halt, emphasizing that suffering and starvation occurred at a horrifying scale well before the technical famine declaration. He suggests that framing aid delivery as a "strategic necessity" to defeat Hamas subordinated humanitarianism to the goal of maintaining the conflict.

Overview of individuals and entities mentioned

The article is a debate between two authors responding to a previous piece by two other high-profile figures. It also references key organizations involved in aid and governance in the Gaza conflict.

Individual / Entity -- Role / Position (as stated in the text or found via external search) -- Context in the Article

Yechiel (Michael) Leiter (Article Co-Author)

Israeli Ambassador to the United States. (Current position as stated in the article.)

Defends Israel's actions, shifts blame for the crisis to Hamas aid diversion and UN affiliates' incompetence.

Andy Hall (Article Co-Author)

Formerly served on the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that USAID established in October 2023. (DART was discontinued in June 2025).

Accuses the Biden Administration (including Lew and Satterfield) of complicity and Israel of causing the catastrophe through its military offensive and aid restrictions.

Jacob J. Lew (Referenced Author)

U.S. Ambassador to Israel (Served from 2023 to 2025 during the period discussed) and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and White House Chief of Staff (External information).

Co-authored the original article, “How to Stop a Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza,” which Leiter and Hall criticize. He is accused of downplaying the humanitarian crisis and censoring DART reports.

David Satterfield (Referenced Author)

U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Needs (Appointed by President Biden in October 2023 for a temporary mission, according to external information.)

Co-authored the original article. He is accused by Hall of inflating aid numbers and subordinating aid to military goals.

Hamas

Foreign Terrorist Organization (Designation mentioned in the text) and the governing political and military group in Gaza.

Accused by Leiter of diverting substantial humanitarian aid for revenue, thereby prolonging the war and contributing to the crisis.

UN Affiliates (UN)

United Nations and associated agencies (e.g., UNRWA, which is specifically mentioned).

Blamed by Leiter for incompetence and for refusing to cooperate with new aid mechanisms. Accused of having a political agenda to pressure Israel.

USAID

U.S. Agency for International Development.

U.S. government agency that funded the DART team (where Hall worked) and the FEWS NET monitor. Its experts provided internal reporting on Israeli violations that Hall says was ignored by senior Biden officials.

Biden Administration

The U.S. Executive Branch led by President Joe Biden (specifically up to the end of his presidency, assumed to be Jan 2025, based on the article's timeline).

Accused by Hall of complicity in the suffering by ignoring expert warnings, censoring reports, and failing to enforce U.S. policy requiring aid recipients to adhere to international law.

Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF)

A new organization established in May (presumably 2025, in the article's timeline) to deliver aid directly and prevent diversion.

Cited by Leiter as a successful new model that the UN refused to cooperate with, exacerbating distribution problems.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET)

USAID-funded food security monitor.

Cited by Hall as the expert body whose December 2024 warning of famine was publicly rebuked by Lew and removed from its website by senior Biden officials.

Famine Review Committee of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)

Multinational panel responsible for assessing food insecurity.

Noted by Hall as the authority that officially confirmed famine had taken hold in parts of Gaza in August (2025).

Summary and analysis by Gemini