Improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk 'losing' military aid, Biden admin writes to Israel

The Biden administration has written to the Israeli government demanding it to take action to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days, warning that failure to do so could violate US laws related to foreign military assistance and potentially jeopardise US military aid.

According to a CNN report, the letter jointly written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Sunday, is addressed to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

It marks a significant new step by the US to try to compel Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, added the report.

“US has deep concerns about the situation and ask for urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory,” CNN quoted the leaders as saying in the letter.

“Since this Spring, the amount of aid delivered to Gaza has dropped more than 50% and the quantity delivered in September was the lowest of any month during the past year,” they added.

The deadline for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza comes after the US presidential election on November 5.

Despite the warning, the US continues to provide military support to Israel, including advanced air defence systems and troops that began arriving on Monday. However, future aid may be at risk, reported CNN.

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The October 13 letter highlights that the US State and Defence departments must assess Israel’s compliance with prior commitments not to restrict aid to Gaza.

The demands are significant: Israel must allow at least 350 trucks daily through all four major crossings, open a fifth crossing, and implement humanitarian pauses to facilitate aid distribution for at least the next four months.

The US is also demanding that Israel allow people in the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone inside Gaza to move inland before winter and enhance security for humanitarian convoys and movements.

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Israel must also take action to ensure that the Jordan Armed forces corridors are functioning at “full and continuous capacity”, added the report.

The letter closes by calling for a new channel between the US and Israeli governments to “raise and discuss civilian harm incidents,” with the first meeting to be held at the end of the month.

Israel’s military operations in northern Gaza have intensified in recent weeks, and the Israeli military has called on civilians there to evacuate to the south, where more than one million displaced Palestinians are already sheltering. The UN World Food Programme warned last weekend that Israeli military operations are having a “disastrous impact” on food security for Palestinian families.

Blinken and Austin wrote that the Israeli government’s actions appear to be contributing to the worsening humanitarian situation.

“We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government – including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments – together with increased lawlessness and looting – are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza,” they were quoted as saying in the letter.

Israel seems to be responding to the letter, at least indirectly. Just a day after it was sent, COGAT, the Israeli agency responsible for managing policy in the Palestinian territories and overseeing aid flow into Gaza, tweeted photos of aid entering the region.

“30 trucks entered northern Gaza through the Erez Crossing earlier today. Israel is not preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, with an emphasis on food, into Gaza,” COGAT said in a post on X.

“Israel will continue to allow the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, while simultaneously destroying Hamas’ military and governance infrastructures,” it added.

With inputs from agencies