Humanitarian groups, rights experts express concern after retraction of famine warning in Gaza

Days after the US pushed for the retraction of an aid group's report that warned of imminent famine in northern Gaza, aid groups and human rights experts are sharing their concerns over the move.

Earlier this week, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) - an initiative funded by USAID, the US government agency that oversees foreign aid - took down a report on its website that sounded the alarm about tens of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza at risk of death under Israeli siege.

The move came after the US ambassador to Israel, Jacob Lew, reprimanded FEWS NET on social media. US officials later confirmed to the Associated Press that the Biden administration pushed for the report to be retracted.

“The whole point of creating FEWS is to have a group of experts make assessments about imminent famine that are untainted by political considerations,” Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor in international affairs at Princeton University, told the AP.

“It sure looks like USAID is allowing political considerations - the Biden administration’s worry about funding Israel’s starvation strategy - to interfere.”