Pompeo Turns Page on Obama’s Middle East Policies

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University Cairo, in the eastern suburb of New Cairo, east of the capital on 10 January, 2019. AFP
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University Cairo, in the eastern suburb of New Cairo, east of the capital on 10 January, 2019. AFP
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Pompeo Turns Page on Obama’s Middle East Policies

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University Cairo, in the eastern suburb of New Cairo, east of the capital on 10 January, 2019. AFP
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks to students at the American University Cairo, in the eastern suburb of New Cairo, east of the capital on 10 January, 2019. AFP

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivered a scathing rebuke of the Obama administration's Mideast policies on Thursday, accusing the former president of spreading chaos in the Middle East.

In a speech at the American University in Cairo, Pompeo held Barack Obama responsible for chaos after failing to confront radicals appropriately.

But the secretary did not mention Obama by name.

“He told you that the United States and the Muslim world needed 'a new beginning.' The results of these misjudgments have been dire," said Pompeo about the former president.

Obama had given a speech in Cairo in 2009 in which he spoke of "a new beginning" for US relations with countries in the Arab and Muslim world.

Pompeo's speech came on the third leg of a nine-nation Mideast tour aimed at reassuring America's Arab partners that the Trump administration is not walking away from the region amid confusion and concern over plans to withdraw US forces from Syria.

“The Trump administration is also working to establish the Middle East Strategic Alliance to confront the region’s most serious threat and bolster energy and economic cooperation,” said Pompeo.

Airstrikes against ISIS in the region “will continue as targets arise,” he told the audience.

“It is important to know also that we will not ease our campaign to stop Iran’s malevolent influence and actions against this region and the world. The nations of the Middle East will never enjoy security, achieve economic stability, or advance the dreams of their people if Iran’s revolutionary regime persists on its current course,” he said.

Earlier, Pompeo met separately with Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Shoukry, Pompeo said that the US remained a steadfast partner in the Middle East.

He stressed the troop pullout from Syria would go ahead, despite recent comments appearing to walk back on US President Donald Trump's decision, but said Washington would remain engaged.

"We will withdraw our forces, our uniformed forces, from Syria and continue America's crushing campaign," Pompeo said at the press conference.

On Thursday evening, the US official visited the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ and the Al-Fattah Al-Alim mosque in Egypt's New Administrative Capital, 45 kilometers east of the capital.



Amnesty International Says Israel and Aid System Use Starvation to Commit Gaza Genocide

Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Amnesty International Says Israel and Aid System Use Starvation to Commit Gaza Genocide

Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Palestinians queue for a hot meal at a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on May 4, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Amnesty International issued a report Thursday claiming a controversial Israeli- and US-backed system to distribute aid in Gaza uses starvation tactics against Palestinians to continue to commit genocide in the Gaza Strip during Israel's war with Hamas.

The UK-based human rights group condemned Israel and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which the US and Israel have backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations.

Israel’s foreign minister denounced the Amnesty report, saying the organization has “joined forces with Hamas and fully adopted all of its propaganda lies.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 500 Palestinians have been killed at or near GHF distribution centers over the past month. The centers are guarded by private security contractors and located near Israeli military positions. Palestinian officials and witnesses have accused Israeli forces of opening fire at crowds of people moving near the sites.

The Amnesty report said Israel has “turned aid-seeking into a booby trap for desperate starved Palestinians” through GHF's militarized hubs. The conditions have created "a deadly mix of hunger and disease pushing the population past breaking point.”

“This devastating daily loss of life as desperate Palestinians try to collect aid is the consequence of their deliberate targeting by Israeli forces and the foreseeable consequence of irresponsible and lethal methods of distribution,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general.

Israel rejects claims

The Israeli army says it has fired warning shots to control crowds and only fires at people it says are acting suspiciously.

The Foreign Ministry and COGAT, the Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said Israel has facilitated the entry of over 3,000 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip since May 19 and GHF has delivered boxes of food with the equivalent of 56 million meals.

Humanitarian organizations say that amount is not nearly enough to meet overwhelming need in Gaza. GHF did not immediately return requests for comment.

The World Food Program says despite the new Israel-backed initiative, food consumption reached a critical low last month, with food diversity reaching its worst level since the conflict began.

“The continued closure of crossings, intensified violence since March, soaring food prices, and extremely limited humanitarian and commercial supplies have severely restricted access to even basic food items,” the WFP said in a June report.

GHF hubs are close to Israeli military positions

Amnesty’s report follows a statement earlier this week from more than 165 major international charities and non-governmental organizations calling for an immediate end to the foundation. They say the new mechanism allows Israel to use food as a weapon, violates humanitarian principles and is ineffective.

It’s the latest sign of trouble for the GHF, a secretive initiative headed by an evangelical leader who is a close ally of President Donald Trump. Last month, the US government pledged $30 million for the group to continue operation, the first known US donation to the group, whose other funding sources remain opaque.

GHF started distributing aid May 26 following a nearly three-month Israeli blockade that pushed Gaza’s population of more than 2 million to the brink of famine.

Palestinian witnesses have described scenes of chaos around the distribution sites, and two contractors in the operation have told The Associated Press that colleagues fired live ammunition and stun grenades toward crowds of people. Palestinians often must travel long distances to reach the sites.

In a statement Tuesday, GHF rejected criticism of its operations and claimed it has delivered more than 52 million meals to hungry Palestinians.

“Instead of bickering and throwing insults from the sidelines, we would welcome other humanitarian groups to join us and feed the people in Gaza,” GHF said.

GHF has called for Israel’s military to investigate the allegations from Gaza’s Health Ministry, but last month the organization said there has been no violence in or around its centers and its personnel have not opened fire.

Israel demanded the alternative plan because it accuses Hamas of siphoning off aid. The UN and aid groups deny there is significant diversion.

Amnesty's allegations of genocide Amnesty accused Israel last year of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure, and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid.

Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic “blood libel.” It is challenging such allegations filed by South Africa at the International Court of Justice and has rejected the International Criminal Court’s accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister committed war crimes in Gaza.