The Biden administration sent a letter to the Israeli government demanding it act to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days or risk violating US laws governing foreign military assistance, suggesting US military aid could be in jeopardy.
The Sunday letter, jointly written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, is addressed to Israeli Minister of Defense 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.
They write that the US has deep concerns about the situation and ask for “urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory.”
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 letter notes that the US State and Defense departments, under US law, “must continually assess” Israel’s adherence to its assurances made earlier this year that it would not restrict aid flows into the enclave.
The deadline falls after the US presidential election on November 5.
“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 norther 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,” Blinken and Austin write.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
