In the days Biden spent blocking a UN resolution on Gaza, Israel killed scores of Palestinians.

by Prem Thakker, The Intercept

An estimated 570,000 people in the Gaza Strip are now starving. Three-quarters of the territory’s 36 hospitals are closed. The remaining nine, all in Southern Gaza, are “partially functional.” The shuttered hospitals in the north are serving as impromptu shelters for some of the 85 percent of Palestinians in Gaza who have been displaced, but did not trek south to escape the ravages of Israel’s ground invasion. Beyond an estimated death toll of 20,000, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, a devastating 355,000 are suffering from infectious diseases as conditions in the territory worsen.

Amid all of this suffering, President Joe Biden has now delayed a U.N. vote for humanitarian aid to Gaza at leastOpens in a new tab 8 times.

President Joe Biden visit to Israel March 2016 Meet with PM Benjamin Netanyahu

The vote is on a U.N. Security Council proposal, put forward by the United Arab Emirates and repeatedly watered down just for Biden, that calls for limiting the hostilities in Gaza and expanding aid distribution. Officials reportedly crafted the resolution in such a way that it would be “tolerable” enough for the Biden administration to avoid a veto. The U.S. has long been Israel’s guarantor at the Security Council, using its veto as a permanent member of the council to block almost every measure critical of Israel.

Read More