Wie man eine humanitäre Katastrophe in Gaza stoppt: Was es unter Biden brauchte – und warum sie auseinander fiel

[SS from essay by [Jacob J. Lew](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/jacob-j-lew), Professor of International and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He served as U.S. Ambassador to Israel from 2023 to 2025 and as U.S. Treasury Secretary from 2013 to 2017; and [David Satterfield](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/authors/david-satterfield), Director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. He served as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues from 2023 to 2024.]

Ahumanitarian crisis is unfolding in the Gaza Strip. Since the March 2025 breakdown of a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, conditions have worsened dramatically, and the potential for widespread starvation is real. Thousands of containers with food, medical supplies, and shelter materials remain stranded at border crossings on both sides, awaiting Israeli clearance to enter Gaza and conditions for safe passage free from seizure by desperate Gazan civilians, Hamas or gang attacks within the enclave. At least several hundred truckloads of food aid must enter daily to avert a wider catastrophe.

Many parties bear responsibility for this crisis. First and foremost, [Hamas](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/tags/hamas) launched a war with the brutal October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel; because Hamas fighters live and fight in civilian areas and in tunnels running underneath them, Hamas invited an Israeli response that would put millions of people at risk. Gazan civilians have suffered hardships and deaths at an unfathomable scale since the start of the war, and outside organizations attempting to meet humanitarian needs are struggling to deliver aid in the midst of intense combat and disorder in a dense urban environment.