In an interview with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, CNN interviewer Jake Tapper confirmed that “Hamas is vile. What they did eight days ago, targeting civilians, is horrific,” but questions that what is going on right now is not a punishment just for Hamas, and supplies have been cut off by Israel and Egypt to all of Gaza.
Tapper quoted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia has denied heat, water, and electricity for children, the elderly, and the sick. Putin hit the Ukrainians hard, and Blinken called this brutalization barbaric.
Tapper continued to question this comparison, but Sullivan responded that Israel is not Russia and Gaza is not Ukraine and agreed that civilians deserve access to water, medicine, and food. He added that the US is working actively to ensure that Gazans are not denied these services.
He confirmed that all those involved in the process – Israel, the UN, Egypt, Jordan, and others – are working to ensure that innocent Palestinians get access to those basic necessities and are protected from bombardment.
Sullivan added that he received a message from his Israeli counterpart that the water had, in fact, been turned on today in southern Gaza.