People are wondering why the United States does not provide a similar level of support to other allies in the fight against extremists as it does to Israel despite them exercising more restraint compared to the Jewish state, Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said.
"Ordinary people see the images from Gaza and cannot fathom why America helps Israel and yet hesitates to support other allies fighting with more restraint against similar radical ideologies," Tuggar said during a conversation at the Wilson Center, while also cautioning against underestimating the strength of feelings in the Global South on the Gaza conflict.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel and breached the border, attacking both civilian neighborhoods and military bases. Nearly 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted during the attack. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, and started a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 35,000 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, local authorities said. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.
Last week, US President Joe Biden said Washington would restrict the supply of weapons to Israel if the latter launched a major military incursion into Rafah, and the United States paused one shipment of weapons for Israel. A State Department report published on Friday found that it is "reasonable to assess" that US-provided defense articles have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 "in instances inconsistent with its IHL [international humanitarian law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm," but stopped short of reaching any definitive conclusion.