Uzra Zeya Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (2021-2025) Current: President and CEO, Human Rights First As the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights for the Biden administration—and thus a putative authority on human rights—Uzra Zeya repeatedly minimized Israel’s crimes against the people of Gaza and amplified false claims about its humanitarian efforts. Zeya’s condemnations in the name of human rights were highly selective. In public remarks from January 2024, Zeya cited the deaths of more than 150 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), without attributing their deaths to Israel’s deliberate attacks. Zeya went on to denounce only Hamas, insisting that it had used Palestinian civilians and hostages as “human shields”. Meanwhile, Zeya declared that Israel had sought to “expand the flow” of aid into Gaza. Earlier that month, the United Nations reported that Israeli authorities had been blocking lifesaving aid from entering Gaza, intensifying the threat of starvation."

Black and white portrait of a smiling woman with long hair, wearing a patterned scarf, earrings, and a jacket against a dark background.

Uzra Zeya

Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (2021-2025)

Current: President and CEO, Human Rights First

As the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights for the Biden administration—and thus a putative authority on human rights—Uzra Zeya repeatedly minimized Israel’s crimes against the people of Gaza and amplified false claims about its humanitarian efforts.

Zeya’s condemnations in the name of human rights were highly selective. In public remarks from January 2024, Zeya cited the deaths of more than 150 staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), without attributing their deaths to Israel’s deliberate attacks. Zeya went on to denounce only Hamas, insisting that it had used Palestinian civilians and hostages as “human shields”. Meanwhile, Zeya declared that Israel had sought to “expand the flow” of aid into Gaza. Earlier that month, the United Nations reported that Israeli authorities had been blocking lifesaving aid from entering Gaza, intensifying the threat of starvation."

In a March 2024 press briefing—at which point conditions in Gaza had worsened significantly—Zeya refused to acknowledge reports of starvation in Gaza, let alone to attribute this starvation to Israel’s aid blockades, instead insisting that the United States was “stress[ing] the urgent need” to increase aid to Gaza. Just two days before Zeya’s refusal to acknowledge the starvation, the World Health Organization had warned that famine in Gaza was “imminent.”