WASHINGTON — The United States has warned Israel that it will face consequences within 30 days, including a potential cutoff of military aid, if it does not increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, US officials said Tuesday.
The warning was sent Sunday in a letter signed by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It was addressed to Israel’s minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, and its minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The Biden administration's latest admonition of Israel comes just three weeks before the US presidential election, amid a campaign in which some progressives in the party say President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should press Israel harder to prevent civilian deaths in its military campaign in Gaza.
The letter was publicly leaked Tuesday morning, a day after Harris said in a social media post that Israel must do more to allow aid into Gaza. Harris campaigned Tuesday in Michigan, a crucial battleground state with a large population of Muslim and Arab American voters, many of whom are furious at how the Biden-Harris administration has handled Israel's offensive in Gaza. She is scheduled to return to Michigan to campaign Thursday and Friday.
US and United Nations (UN) officials have warned in recent weeks that conditions are deteriorating further in Gaza, particularly in the territory's north, as Israel's military has focused operations against what it calls Hamas holdouts in the area.
Palestinians live in the rubble of their destroyed house, during a power cut amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
"What we have seen over the past few months is that the level of humanitarian assistance has not been sustained" in Gaza, Miller told reporters at a news briefing. "In fact, it has fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak."
He added that Blinken and Austin "thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make” to increase aid deliveries "from the very, very low levels" of the current moment. Aid shipments into Gaza in September reached their lowest level at any time since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel a little over a year ago, he said.
Miller would not specify the possible consequences if Israel did not comply, although a copy of the letter, which was posted online by Axios reporter Barak Ravid and which US officials said was authentic, clearly raised the possibility of suspending military aid. It invoked a US law that bars military assistance to any country found to be blocking the delivery of US-provided humanitarian aid.
Miller appeared to allude to that possibility, saying: "It's just a plain reading of US law. We are required to conduct assessments and find that recipients of US military assistance do not arbitrarily deny or impede the provisioning of us humanitarian assistance. That's just the law, and we of course will follow the law."
The US warning that military aid to Israel could be in jeopardy comes as the Biden administration says it is sending an advanced air defence system to help the country defend itself from missile attacks by Iran. Israel is preparing to strike the country in response to an Iranian barrage on its territory Oct 1.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system in Guam on Feb 19, 2023. (File photo: New York Times)
After nearly a year of stern warnings to Israel about conditions in Gaza that have not produced significant penalties, many experts were sceptical that the new US admonition would have a different result.
"The Israelis will do enough to appear to be improving the humanitarian conditions, and the administration will play along regardless of how serious that effort is," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It strains the bounds of credulity to the breaking point to believe that the administration would act to restrict US military aid to Israel as the Iran-Israel crisis heats up," he said.
But Biden administration officials say their concern about conditions in Gaza has risen rapidly in recent weeks.
"We are now writing to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," the letter from Blinken and Austin states.
The letter set several specific benchmarks for Israel to meet, including the passage of at least 350 aid trucks per day into Gaza and "instituting adequate humanitarian pauses" in military operations to allow for aid delivery and vaccinations "for at least the next four months."
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. (Photo: Reuters)
US officials are particularly concerned about northern Gaza, where about 400,000 Palestinians remain. Israel has ordered their evacuation, warning that they are at high risk from fighting in the area. The letter called on Israel to end the "isolation" of northern Gaza, including by reaffirming "that there will be no Israeli government policy of forced evacuation of civilians from northern to southern Gaza."
The letter also insists that Israel allow people in a humanitarian zone in Muwasi, on Gaza's coast, be allowed to move inland before the onset of winter.
John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesperson, told reporters in a separate briefing that the letter reflects “a deep sense of urgency” within the Biden administration about the situation.
One sign of the concern came in the form of Harris' social media post.
"The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks," Harris wrote on her official government account. "Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected."
Clearly mindful of the effect that US policy is having on her electoral prospects, Harris met with local Muslim and Arab American leaders during a campaign stop in Michigan earlier this month.
The 30-day deadline set by the letter would fall after the election, potentially making it politically easier for Biden to take stronger action against Israel than he has so far been willing to.
Miller said that the 30-day period would provide Israel with "an appropriate" amount of time to implement changes to its aid delivery, rather than demanding that "this has to happen overnight."
Blinken sent a similar letter to Gallant in April, which Miller credited with prompting Israel to increase its aid deliveries into Gaza. After that letter, Miller said, as many as 300 to 400 aid trucks were entering Gaza on some days — a number that US officials consider adequate. But, he added, Blinken also made clear at that time "that the increase couldn't be a one-off, that it needed to be sustained."
He added that the letter was intended to be a private diplomatic correspondence, but that the United States was confirming its existence after it was leaked to the news media.
Relatives of Palestinians from Abu Taima family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, mourn during their funeral, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
The warning was sent Sunday in a letter signed by Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. It was addressed to Israel’s minister of defence, Yoav Gallant, and its minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The Biden administration's latest admonition of Israel comes just three weeks before the US presidential election, amid a campaign in which some progressives in the party say President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris should press Israel harder to prevent civilian deaths in its military campaign in Gaza.
The letter was publicly leaked Tuesday morning, a day after Harris said in a social media post that Israel must do more to allow aid into Gaza. Harris campaigned Tuesday in Michigan, a crucial battleground state with a large population of Muslim and Arab American voters, many of whom are furious at how the Biden-Harris administration has handled Israel's offensive in Gaza. She is scheduled to return to Michigan to campaign Thursday and Friday.
US and United Nations (UN) officials have warned in recent weeks that conditions are deteriorating further in Gaza, particularly in the territory's north, as Israel's military has focused operations against what it calls Hamas holdouts in the area.
Palestinians live in the rubble of their destroyed house, during a power cut amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
"What we have seen over the past few months is that the level of humanitarian assistance has not been sustained" in Gaza, Miller told reporters at a news briefing. "In fact, it has fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak."
He added that Blinken and Austin "thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make” to increase aid deliveries "from the very, very low levels" of the current moment. Aid shipments into Gaza in September reached their lowest level at any time since the Hamas-led attacks in Israel a little over a year ago, he said.
Miller would not specify the possible consequences if Israel did not comply, although a copy of the letter, which was posted online by Axios reporter Barak Ravid and which US officials said was authentic, clearly raised the possibility of suspending military aid. It invoked a US law that bars military assistance to any country found to be blocking the delivery of US-provided humanitarian aid.
Miller appeared to allude to that possibility, saying: "It's just a plain reading of US law. We are required to conduct assessments and find that recipients of US military assistance do not arbitrarily deny or impede the provisioning of us humanitarian assistance. That's just the law, and we of course will follow the law."
The US warning that military aid to Israel could be in jeopardy comes as the Biden administration says it is sending an advanced air defence system to help the country defend itself from missile attacks by Iran. Israel is preparing to strike the country in response to an Iranian barrage on its territory Oct 1.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system in Guam on Feb 19, 2023. (File photo: New York Times)
After nearly a year of stern warnings to Israel about conditions in Gaza that have not produced significant penalties, many experts were sceptical that the new US admonition would have a different result.
"The Israelis will do enough to appear to be improving the humanitarian conditions, and the administration will play along regardless of how serious that effort is," said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator now with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It strains the bounds of credulity to the breaking point to believe that the administration would act to restrict US military aid to Israel as the Iran-Israel crisis heats up," he said.
But Biden administration officials say their concern about conditions in Gaza has risen rapidly in recent weeks.
"We are now writing to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," the letter from Blinken and Austin states.
The letter set several specific benchmarks for Israel to meet, including the passage of at least 350 aid trucks per day into Gaza and "instituting adequate humanitarian pauses" in military operations to allow for aid delivery and vaccinations "for at least the next four months."
Palestinian child is vaccinated against polio during the second round of a vaccination campaign, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. (Photo: Reuters)
US officials are particularly concerned about northern Gaza, where about 400,000 Palestinians remain. Israel has ordered their evacuation, warning that they are at high risk from fighting in the area. The letter called on Israel to end the "isolation" of northern Gaza, including by reaffirming "that there will be no Israeli government policy of forced evacuation of civilians from northern to southern Gaza."
The letter also insists that Israel allow people in a humanitarian zone in Muwasi, on Gaza's coast, be allowed to move inland before the onset of winter.
John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesperson, told reporters in a separate briefing that the letter reflects “a deep sense of urgency” within the Biden administration about the situation.
One sign of the concern came in the form of Harris' social media post.
"The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks," Harris wrote on her official government account. "Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected."
Clearly mindful of the effect that US policy is having on her electoral prospects, Harris met with local Muslim and Arab American leaders during a campaign stop in Michigan earlier this month.
The 30-day deadline set by the letter would fall after the election, potentially making it politically easier for Biden to take stronger action against Israel than he has so far been willing to.
Miller said that the 30-day period would provide Israel with "an appropriate" amount of time to implement changes to its aid delivery, rather than demanding that "this has to happen overnight."
Blinken sent a similar letter to Gallant in April, which Miller credited with prompting Israel to increase its aid deliveries into Gaza. After that letter, Miller said, as many as 300 to 400 aid trucks were entering Gaza on some days — a number that US officials consider adequate. But, he added, Blinken also made clear at that time "that the increase couldn't be a one-off, that it needed to be sustained."
He added that the letter was intended to be a private diplomatic correspondence, but that the United States was confirming its existence after it was leaked to the news media.
Relatives of Palestinians from Abu Taima family, who were killed in an Israeli strike, mourn during their funeral, amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
