Another senior State official resigns over Biden's Gaza war policy

Another senior State Department official has resigned from the office over the Biden administration’s stance on Israel’s brutal war on Gaza.

The official, Stacy Gilbert, informed colleagues that the State Department was mistaken in its determination that Israel had not hindered aid to Gaza, expressing disagreement with the Biden Administration's recent report.

The report Gilbert opposed was released this month in response to a presidential memo referred to as NSM-20.

Formed after weeks of deliberation within the State and Defense departments, the report concluded that although “aid remains insufficient,” the United States does not “currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance.”

Stacy Gilbert argued that despite undeniable evidence to the contrary, the report failed to acknowledge Israel's restrictions on humanitarian assistance, asserting that Israel wasn't obstructing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Gilbert worked as a Senior Civilian-Military Advisor to the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

PRM describes itself as the "humanitarian bureau of the State Department," with a mission to advance US interests by "providing protection, alleviating suffering, and addressing the plight of persecuted and forcibly displaced individuals worldwide."

Gilbert resigned by sending an email to staff Tuesday explaining her view that the State Department was wrong to conclude that Israel had not obstructed humanitarian assistance to Gaza, officials who read the letter said.

'US responsible for suffering, famine and persecution'

Gilbert's resignation followed a series of resignations from the administration. The initial departing official, Josh Paul, characterised the resignations as highlighting "the utter failure of the Biden Administration and the Blinken State Department to fulfill any of these objectives—despite over 7 months of conflict in Gaza."

"The US has not provided protection - it has provided weapons; it has not eased suffering - it has enabled a famine; it has not resolved the plight of persecuted and forcibly displaced people in Palestine - it has provided the diplomatic cover for Israel to continue their persecution and to repeatedly forcibly displace them without accountability or justice," wrote the former official on his Linkedin account.

Paul said, “On the day when the White House announced that the latest atrocity in Rafah did not cross its red line, this resignation demonstrates that the Biden Administration will do anything to avoid the truth.”

"Stacy's resignation is a bold recognition of the harm some parts of the State Department (most particularly my old Bureau, Political-Military Affairs) are conducting, and the failure of other parts of the State Department, such as PRM, or the Human Rights Bureau, DRL, from which Dr. Annelle Sheline previously resigned, to do anything effective to prevent or mitigate it,” he added.

Since October 7, several Biden administration officials, including Annelle Sheline, focused on human rights, and Hala Rharrit, an Arabic-language spokesperson, have resigned in opposition to Biden’s blank check policy towards Israel’s atrocities and Netanyahu, while others also voiced discontent through internal dissent channels.