‘America can and should do more’, Spanish-American philanthropist says
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A maritime aid corridor must be established to deliver food aid to Gaza, airdrops should be continuous, and Israel should open up new road crossings into the besieged territory, philanthropist chef Jose Andres has said.
More than four months of Israeli bombardment has reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble and left more the more than two million residents on the brink of famine.
A Michelin and James Beard Award-winning chef, Mr Andres founded the World Central Kitchen charity in 2010 to rush food to disaster zones, often delivering meals long before governments could organise their own relief operations.
He said he has been lobbying the Biden administration to join a Jordan-led effort to airdrop food into Gaza.
Late last week, President Joe Biden announced the US would do so and shortly afterwards it delivered 38,000 pre-made meals along the Gaza coastline.
Several other nations including the UAE, France, Bahrain and Egypt have signed up to participate.
“I am very proud and I am very happy that the US is finally joining the initiative of King Abdullah [II of Jordan] and the other countries, and hopefully doing not only one massive airdrop in the north but continuing ones,” Mr Andres said at an event at the National Press Club in Washington on Friday.
“It needs to happen every day, massive waves. People are hungry. This is already a humanitarian disaster. The least we can do is make sure that everybody is fed and provided with food and water. That is the least we can do for the people of Palestine.”
Mr Andres said World Central Kitchen has already provided almost 34 million meals since the war started after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 and his charity is now delivering more than 60 per cent of all non-governmental food aid into Gaza.
He personally took part in an airdrop last month along with King Abdullah, and his organisation has bought more food that is being stored in Jordan, ready to be airdropped.
Mr Andres, who co-chairs President Biden’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition, said the humanitarian disaster in Gaza “could be stopped tomorrow” if Israel would allow it.
“If Israel would open just two more spots immediately … we can get enough trucks from the south and from the north, and we could be covering all of Gaza quick and fast. Could that be happening tomorrow? Totally. Why is that not happening? Because of politics,” he said, noting that the only person who can stop the war is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Biden’s stalwart support of Israel in its brutal response to the Hamas attacks on October 7 has drawn broad condemnation from many of his own supporters, particularly the Arab-American community and progressives, and he risks losing November’s general election over it.
But Mr Andres said he thought the Biden administration is working behind the scenes to try to resolve the crisis.
“I do believe the Biden Administration, behind the public message, is doing a lot of pushing to make sure a ceasefire is achieved,” he said.
Mr Andres also called for the establishment of a maritime aid corridor that would send flotillas of food-laden ships that had been packed and inspected in Cyprus to Gaza’s beaches.
The idea was first put forward by Nicosia in November but remains under discussion, and Israel maintains a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
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