Senior US officials have warned Israel that if it does not take “urgent and sustained action” to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the US government could be forced to reduce its support for its main ally.
The warning, made in a letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin and made public this week, comes as Israel’s year-long war on Gaza has fueled famine and disease in the Palestinian coastal enclave.
“The amount of aid entering Gaza in September was the lowest of any month last year,” US officials said in the letter, giving Israel 30 days to act on a series of requests aimed at to “reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory”.
Almost immediately, lawyers, human rights advocates and other experts questioned the U.S. administration’s apparent threat to withhold U.S. military assistance to Israel.
“Once again, the Biden administration is performing bureaucratic gymnastics to avoid enforcing US law and stopping arms transfers to Israel,” said Annie Shiel, US advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict. in an article on social networks.
“Meanwhile, thousands more Palestinian civilians will be killed, maimed and starved over these 30 days. »
While the United States is required under its own laws to withhold military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of U.S.-backed humanitarian aid, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has so far refused to apply this rule to Israel, experts note.
So what is this week’s letter about, how have stakeholders and experts responded, and what might happen next? Here’s what you need to know.
What did the letter say?
Blinken and Austin acknowledged the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the risks facing 1.7 million people who have been forced by multiple evacuation orders to take refuge in a narrow coastal area of the bombed territory.
They said they were “particularly concerned” that recent Israeli actions “contribute to an accelerated deterioration” of conditions. These actions include Israel’s blocking of commercial imports into Gaza and “denying or preventing almost 90 percent of humanitarian movements between north and south Gaza in September.”
The letter called on the Israeli government to implement a series of measures over the next 30 days, including:
- Allow a minimum of 350 trucks to enter Gaza per day
- Provide “adequate humanitarian pauses” that will allow humanitarian deliveries and distribution to take place, for at least the next four months.
- Cancel evacuation orders “when there is no operational necessity”
US leaders also called on Israel to “end the isolation of northern Gaza” – where Israeli forces recently launched an intensified attack – by allowing humanitarian groups access to the area and saying it would not There is no plan by the Israeli government to force Palestinian civilians to leave.
What US law is Israel accused of violating?
In their letter, Blinken and Austin cited Section 620I of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act, a law that oversees the country’s provision of foreign aid.
“No assistance shall be provided under this Act or the Arms Export Control Act to any country when it becomes known to the President that the government of that country prohibits or otherwise restricts , directly or indirectly, the transportation or delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. ”, we read in the section.
The law provides an exception to the rule, allowing aid to continue flowing to a country if a U.S. president determines that it is in the national security interests of the United States. But the president must inform congressional committees that such a decision was made and why.
Biden did not invoke this waiver in the case of Israel’s war on Gaza.
The United States provides Israel with at least $3.8 billion in military aid annually, and Biden has approved an additional $14 billion in aid since the Gaza war began in early October 2023.
What is happening on the ground in Gaza?
Israel has denied blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, with its COGAT agency – which oversees deliveries – saying it would continue to expand “its efforts to facilitate humanitarian assistance across Gaza”.
However, the United Nations and other aid groups have for months accused the country of hindering their efforts to provide food, water, medicine and other essential aid to the Palestinians.
Concerns about a worsening humanitarian crisis have recently intensified after the Israeli military issued new evacuation orders and tightened its siege on northern Gaza by launching a new ground offensive in the region.
On Thursday, the UN hunger monitoring system, known as the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC), said 1.84 million Palestinians in Gaza face high levels of food insecurity acute. Among them, 133,000 lived in “catastrophic” insecurity.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director, warned that Israel was “forcing civilians to choose between starvation or displacement, while their homes and streets were relentlessly shelled by bombs and shells.
Joyce Msuya, the UN’s acting humanitarian chief, told the Security Council this week that across Gaza, “less than a third of the 286 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities in the first two weeks of October were facilitated without major incidents or delays.”
“Every time a mission is hampered, the lives of those in need and humanitarians on the ground are further threatened,” Msuya said.
Last month, 15 humanitarian groups – including Save the Children, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council – also reported that “Israel’s systematic obstruction of aid” meant that 83 percent of required food aid was not received. did not arrive in Gaza.
“A record average of 69 aid trucks per day entered Gaza in August 2024, compared to 500 per working day last year; which was already not enough to meet people’s needs. In August, more than a million people did not receive any food rations in southern and central Gaza,” they said.
What did the experts say about this week’s US letter?
Annelle Sheline, a former US State Department official who resigned over the administration’s Gaza policy, said this week’s letter is a “clear acknowledgment that the administration knows the 620i is being violated “.
“Under US law, this makes Israel ineligible for US weapons or security assistance,” she wrote on social media.
Others question why Washington gave Israel 30 days to authorize more humanitarian aid into Gaza before suspending its military aid, despite evidence showing deliveries are being hampered.
“If (Biden) was serious, he would have done this already, as required by law,” said Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, a Washington-based think tank.
“After 30 days, they will thank Israel for easing some restrictions (which still do not meet legal requirements) and continue to supply ammunition,” he added in a message on X.
Sarah Leah Whitson, lawyer and executive director of the US think tank DAWN, also said that while the letter constitutes “an important and unprecedented signal that Israel has crossed even the Biden administration’s permissive red lines”, a Concrete action is essential.
“We now need the Biden administration to show action, not just words, by enforcing U.S. laws that bar aid to Israel due not only to its relentless obstruction of humanitarian aid, but also of the deliberate starvation and incessant bombing of civilians in Gaza,” she said in a statement. .
Why was the letter published now?
Dire conditions in northern Gaza – and fears that the Israeli siege of the area could endanger hundreds of thousands of Palestinians – have put renewed emphasis on restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Speaking at the UN Security Council this week, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “a “A ‘starvation policy’ in northern Gaza would be horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international and US law.”
“The Israeli government has stated that this is not its policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut off, and we will ensure that Israel’s actions on the ground match this statement,” he said. -she declared.
Critics have accused Israel of implementing a plan designed by former generals that calls for starving residents of northern Gaza in order to force residents to evacuate the area and declare it a closed military zone.
The Associated Press news agency reported earlier this week that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was “reviewing” the project, dubbed the “General’s Plan.”
The Biden administration’s letter also comes just weeks before the US presidential election, which will see Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris take on Republican former President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration’s unwavering support for Israel has been a major source of criticism in the run-up to next month’s vote, with Harris facing calls to increase pressure on Israel to end the war, in particular by suspending arms transfers to the American ally.
But Harris rejected that request and continued to express strong support for Israel despite warnings that her stance could cost her much-needed votes from progressives as well as Arab and Muslim Americans.