US warns Israel, gives it 30 days to deal with aid crisis

United States: Israel has been warned by the US that if it doesn’t boost the quantity of humanitarian supplies it lets into Gaza during the next 30 days, it may lose its access to funds for weaponry.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli colleagues that the necessary modifications must be made in a letter. The letter was written amid worsening circumstances in northern Gaza and restates US policy on humanitarian supplies and arms exports.

“In actuality, it’s decreased by more than 50% from its highest point,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a briefing. In order to ensure that the amount of aid reaching Gaza increases from the very low levels it is now at, Blinken and Austin “thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again.”

350 Vehicles Each Day

Miller said on Tuesday that additional humanitarian supplies reached the Palestinian territories as a result of a letter that Blinken sent to Israeli authorities in April.

According to Austin and Blinken’s letter, in order for Israel to be eligible for foreign military support, it is necessary for the amount of supplies entering Gaza to reach a minimum of 350 trucks per day, and Israel also has to implement more humanitarian pauses and strengthen security measures for humanitarian locations.

They gave Israel thirty days to comply with the demands. White House national security spokesperson John Kirby assured reporters that the letter was not intended to be a threat. “The purpose of the letter was to reaffirm our sense of urgency and the gravity of our feelings regarding the need for a significant increase in humanitarian assistance.”

Offensive Actions Directed at Hamas

The letter was written during a time when the administration was becoming more and more irate that Israel’s bombardment of Hamas was causing needless civilian casualties and running the risk of engulfing the region in a much larger conflict, despite repeated and loud requests to halt offensive operations against the Palestinian organization. An Axios reporter published a copy of the letter online.

Blinken and Austin expressed their worry that the Israeli government’s recent measures, which include stopping commercial imports, refusing or hindering 90% of humanitarian movements, and other restrictions, have prevented relief from reaching those in need.

In the three weeks leading up to the presidential election, Washington is making more demands on its friend and largest beneficiary of U.S. military assistance in order to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and guarantee that the United States would always stand with Israel. In American politics, funding for Israel has always been significant. This month, Biden said, “No administration has helped Israel more than I have.”

In an effort to starve Hamas, humanitarian organizations worry that Israeli commanders may accept a plan to cut off humanitarian supplies to northern Gaza, trapping hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are unable or unwilling to leave their homes without fuel, food, water, medication, and other necessities.

Situation Humanitarian

Last Monday, UN humanitarian authorities reported that the amount of supplies reaching Gaza is at its lowest point in months. According to U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, food is running out even though meals are being given daily to the three hospitals in northern Gaza that are barely functioning. These hospitals are dealing with “dire shortages” of fuel, trauma supplies, pharmaceuticals, and blood.

“Without any more fuel, most bakeries will have to close down again in a matter of days, and there is hardly any food left to distribute,” he said. Just one of the U.N. humanitarian office’s 54 attempts to reach the north this month was made possible by Israeli authorities, according to Dujarric’s report. Eighty-five percent of the requests, he added, were turned down or postponed for security or logistic reasons. The Israeli organization that permits humanitarian access into Gaza, COGAT, refuted reports that the northern crossings had been shut off.

Netanyahu Issues a Warning

Over 42,000 people have died in Gaza as a result of Israel’s retaliatory strike after Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, according to the Health Ministry of the region. It has said that somewhat more than half of the deceased are women and children, but it does not distinguish between combatants and civilians. In Israel, the Hamas assaults claimed the lives of almost 1,200 individuals, the majority of them civilians, and kidnapped another 250.

As the terrorist organization promised to intensify its operations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected on Tuesday the notion of a truce in Lebanon that would leave Hezbollah near his nation’s northern border. Netanyahu made these remarks as US criticism over Israel’s handling of the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts increased.