In one of its most direct and sweeping warnings to date, the Biden administration told Israeli government officials on Sunday that if they do not improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza in the next 30 days, the US may reconsider its military support, which has been largely uninterrupted for more than for a year.
In a Letter to the Ministers of Defense and Strategic Affairs of IsraelSecretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said they were writing to “underline the US government’s deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and to urge your government to take urgent and sustained action this month to reverse this trajectory.” .” The letter this was first reported by the Israeli media and the State Department’s chief spokesman confirmed on Tuesday.
Last month, ProPublica detailed how the U.S. government’s two main authorities on humanitarian aid — the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department’s Office for Refugees — concluded last spring that Israel deliberately blocked the supply of food and medicine to Gaza. These experts determined that the arms sales must be stopped under a US law known as the Foreign Assistance Act, which requires a government to end military aid to a country that blocks humanitarian efforts.
Blinken rejected their findings and told Congress a few weeks later that the State Department had concluded that Israel was not arbitrarily blocking aid. After the US government raised concerns, the Israelis promised to allow more aid to arrive.
It seems that these promises have not been fulfilled. According to Blinken and Austin’s letter, September was the worst month for aid last year. The size of the aid has decreased by more than 50% since the spring. The Israelis halted imports to Palestinian civilians, denied or obstructed 90% of humanitarian movements between north and south Gaza last month and imposed tough new requirements on trucks carrying vital supplies, the letter said.
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When asked about ProPublica’s previous reports in September, Blinken responded morning news programs he evaluated information from several sources and decided that the Israelis were not deliberately blocking aid. “We found that Israel needs to do a better job on humanitarian aid,” he allowed. “Since then we have seen improvements. It’s still not enough.”
The State Department did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment on Tuesday, but agency spokesman Matthew Miller said at a press conference that the letter was the latest attempt to pressure the Israelis to resolve the crisis and that their improvements had not continued in the spring. “The level didn’t hold,” Miller said. “We will respond to events as they occur.”
“We know that humanitarian aid can be received in Gaza,” he added.
Anelle Shelin, a former State Department official who resigned in protest earlier this year, – says the Sunday letter is “an apparent admission that the administration knows” that the Foreign Assistance Act is being violated. “This,” she added, “makes Israel ineligible to receive American weapons or security assistance.”
Responding to similar criticism, Miller said, “We think it’s appropriate to give them another 30 days to cure the problem.”
The humanitarian crisis has reached a critical stage, experts warn. The United Nations and other aid groups are becoming increasingly vocal about the deteriorating situation ahead of winter. And an Al-Jazeera documentary published in late September showed Palestinian children dying of malnutrition.
On Monday, the Israeli military said it did allowed 30 trucks through the crossing in northern Gaza. “Israel does not impede the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, with an emphasis on food,” the unit wrote. “Israel will continue to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza while destroying Hamas’ military and leadership infrastructure.” An Israeli government spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the letter, Blinken and Austin set out several specific demands on the Israelis, including allowing a minimum of 350 trucks a day through four border crossings and opening a fifth. They also warned the Israelis not to force civilians to evacuate from northern Gaza to the south.
“Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures,” they wrote, “could have consequences for U.S. policy.”
In addition, they called for a new channel to discuss the deaths of civilians. “Our commitments to date have not produced the necessary results,” they wrote. At least 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli operations since the Hamas attack last October 7, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, an agency in the Hamas-controlled government.
