World leaders, aid groups react to humanitarian crisis, competing narratives in Gaza

4. Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter

During an interview with NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas last week, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter offered additional criticism of the U.N. He told Vargas that “Israel is doing everything it possibly can” to ensure the people of Gaza have food. 

“The problem is our efforts are being blocked by the United Nations,” he added. Leiter expressed his dismay that the U.N. “is refusing to allow food to be distributed by any measure other than with Hamas.”

Leiter described the Israeli government as being “insistent that food be distributed in Gaza without the participation of terrorists.” He contended that “the U.N. has been collaborating with Hamas from the very beginning.”

He further alleged that about 900 semi-trailers, containing thousands of tons of humanitarian aid, are being blocked by the U.N. “because they insist that it be turned over to Hamas.” The diplomat attributed the U.N.’s collaboration with Iran to the fact that “Hamas is threatening them” and their employees. 

Leiter pushed back on a statistic shared by Vargas based on the results of an internal review by the U.S. government, finding that “only a small percentage of the aid that’s taken into Gaza is being hijacked.” He proclaimed that “90 percent” of the aid is hijacked by Hamas.

During an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday, Leiter pointed to statistics on the U.N.'s website, finding that “in the month of June, 2,134 trucks were sent in Gaza” but “only 260 arrived at their destination” to back up his assertion. He also told Blitzer that 636 trucks were seeking to provide aid to Israel, updating the figure he previously provided to Vargas. 

In an X post on Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Forces shared video footage showing Hamas looting an aid truck on Friday.