US warns Israel to improve humanitarian situation in Gaza or risk weapons funding
The letter said the US would need to assess Israel's commitment to not impeding the delivery of US aid to continue to provide it with military financing, ITV News Correspondent Peter Smith reports
The United States has demanded that Israel improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or or it could risk losing access to US weapons funding.
In a letter dated October 13, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin addressed Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.The US urged Israel to "reverse their trajectory" and allow more aid into Gaza.
Although the threat of withdrawing military aid was not explicitly made, the letter said the US would need to assess Israel's commitment to not impeding the delivery of US humanitarian aid in order to continue to provide it with military financing.
They listed a series of demands for Israel:
Israel must allow 350 trucks into Gaza a day through all four major crossings on the Egyptian border.
They must also open a fifth crossing.
Israel has to implement humanitarian pauses in the war to allow aid distribution and activities like vaccinations for at least the next four months.
Israel must allow people in the Al-Mawasi zone on the Gazan coast to move inland before winter, and improve security for humanitarian convoys and movements.
They must also ensure that Jordan’s Armed Forces corridors are operating at "full and continuous capacity."
Blinken and Austin stated that Benjamin Netanyahu's government seem to be worsening the humanitarian situation.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said: "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, to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today.”
The two secretaries said actions by the Israeli government, including stopping nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, have contributed to an "accelerated deterioration" of conditions in the territory.
“The letter was not meant as a threat," White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
"The letter was simply meant to reiterate the sense of urgency we feel and the seriousness with which we feel it, about the need for an increase, a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance.”
The letter closes by calling for a new channel of communication between the two countries to “raise and discuss civilian harm incidents". The first meeting is set to be held at the end of October.
This comes after the UN World Food Programme warned last weekend that Israeli military operations are having a "disastrous impact" on food security for Palestinians.
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In recent weeks, Israel has intensified its military strikes in Gaza.
An Israeli strike at a school in central Gaza this week killed at least 22 people.
Israel has seemingly responded to the letter with a post on X showing aid going into Gaza.
“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,” it said.
“Israel will continue to allow the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, while simultaneously destroying Hamas’ military and governance infrastructures.”
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