Bay Area Leaders Call for Humanitarian Aid in Gaza As Global Criticism of Israel Grows

Bay Area leaders are calling for the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza amid reports of mass starvation and Israel’s announcement that it will pause fighting for a few hours each day to allow for aid deliveries into Gaza’s most densely populated areas.

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, described the situation in Gaza as “unacceptable by any standards of humanity,” adding that he is urging Israel to stop its military operations in the region before the humanitarian crisis worsens.

State leaders “are consistently trying to do everything we can,” DeSaulnier told KQED last week. “I have traditionally supported aid to Israel, but I no longer vote for any military aid that is offensive because … the approach by [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government], I do not in the least bit want to be part of.”

Nearly half a million people in Gaza are currently facing “catastrophic hunger,” and more than 2 million in the region are expected to experience crisis levels of acute food insecurity, the World Food Programme reported last month. Even when humanitarian workers are given passage into Gaza, civilians seeking food and other forms of assistance have been attacked by Israeli military forces.

“Only a massive scale-up in food aid can stabilize the hunger catastrophe engulfing Gaza,” the United Nations’ World Food Programme wrote in a statement. “People are dying from lack of humanitarian assistance. Severe acute malnutrition is surging, and almost a third of families miss meals for days at a time. Without immediate care, many more lives will be at grave risk.”

More than 5,000 children have been admitted to the hospital due to severe malnutrition this month, according to the World Health Organization, and more than a thousand people since May have died while trying to access food and other essential services.

The Israeli military has denied that there is starvation in Gaza, claiming reports are part of a “false campaign promoted by Hamas.”

Some human rights organizers are skeptical of Israel’s announcement after months of blockade. Others are concerned that nothing short of an immediate ceasefire and unrestricted access to food and medical services will be enough to stop the crisis unfolding in the region.

“It’s too little, too late,” Oussama Mokeddem, government affairs director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ California chapter, said about Israel’s announcement that it would allow for more aid distribution. “People have already died, and in large numbers. Why did we have to wait until so many people died such a cruel death to start talking about this?”

Mokeddem said the organization is also seeing conflicting reports about whether humanitarian workers and civilians are actually experiencing an increase in food distribution sites on the ground.

DeSaulnier was one of several state leaders to sign a resolution in the House of Representatives last month calling for the immediate delivery and disbursement of food and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the region.

Rep. Samuel Liccardo, D-San José, who also signed the resolution, posted on the social media platform X last week to criticize what he described as the United States’ “military support” of Israel’s actions in Gaza.

“We cannot walk away from this humanitarian disaster … or we will be morally complicit in the death of these starving children,” Liccardo wrote. “Yes, Hamas must release hostages to end this war, but the Israeli government must end this suffering — and we must demand it.”

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi also took to social media on Sunday to bring attention to the crisis in Gaza. Pelosi was one of the earliest cosigners of a letter sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week that demands more transparency on the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S. and Israel-backed nonprofit which her office alleges received millions of dollars in federal funding.

Officials are seeking more clarity on the foundation’s funders and what its oversight structure looks like, according to a spokesperson for Pelosi’s office. They’re also seeking more information on reported violence at GHF distribution sites.

“The humanitarian crisis and mass starvation in Gaza — particularly affecting children and infants — is a catastrophic moral emergency,” Pelosi posted to X. “The United States must urgently press for an immediate and sustained ceasefire which ensures safe delivery of life-saving assistance to Palestinians.”