“We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government, including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding 90 per cent of humanitarian movements” and other restrictions have kept aid from flowing, Blinken and Austin said.
A Palestinian woman and children in the courtyard of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, following an Israeli strike.Credit: Bloomberg
The Biden administration is increasing its calls for its ally and biggest recipient of US military aid to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while assuring that America’s support for Israel is unwavering just before the US presidential election in three weeks.
Funding for Israel has long carried weight in US politics, and Biden said this month that “no administration has helped Israel more than I have”.
Humanitarian aid groups fear that Israeli leaders may approve a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas, which could trap hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are unwilling or unable to leave their homes without food, water, medicine and fuel.
UN humanitarian officials said last week that aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in months. About 80 trucks carrying aid have entered through crossings in Gaza’s north since October 1, down from roughly 60 trucks a day previously, according to the UN website tracking deliveries.
COGAT, the Israeli body facilitating aid crossings into Gaza, denied that crossings to the north have been closed.
US officials said the letter was sent to remind Israel of both its obligations under international humanitarian law and of the Biden administration’s legal obligation to ensure that the delivery of American humanitarian assistance should not be hindered, diverted or held up by a recipient of US military aid.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive since the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas has killed more than 42,000 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The Hamas attacks that launched the war killed some 1200 people, mostly civilians, and militants abducted another 250.
The US has spent a record of at least $US17.9 billion ($26.7 billion) on military aid to Israel since the war in Gaza began and led to escalating conflict around the Middle East, according to a report for Brown University’s Costs of War project.
That aid has enabled Israel to purchase billions of dollars worth of munitions it has used in its operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, many of those strikes also have killed civilians in both areas.
AP
