Biden officials keep patting themselves on the back saying "at least we prevented famine!"

But famine is just a regulated word. You need huge swaths of starvation, built up over a long period of time, to reach famine. And starvation preceding famine isn't magically better.

It marks the grim milestone of a humanitarian situation in Gaza that has only deteriorated since President Trump came into office. But as the situation has worsened, many of the former officials NPR spoke with shared a common refrain: Did we do enough to prevent this?

It's a question that David Satterfield, a special envoy for Middle East humanitarian efforts under President Joe Biden, said he and other senior officials got asked many times throughout his tenure.

"Our answer was no, we're not doing enough, we were never able to mobilize a sustained adequate response to all of the humanitarian challenges faced by 2 million civilians in Gaza, in full honesty and modesty. But we prevented famine and starvation," Satterfield said, referring to the current situation under the Trump administration. "And while that may be considered a low bar, that is not an insignificant achievement."
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