Senior US officials have warned Israel that if it does not take “urgent and sustained action” to allow more humanitarian assistance to reach the Gaza Strip, the US government could be forced to reduce its support for the main ally.
The warning, presented in a letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin that was made public this week, came as Israel's year-long war on Gaza has fueled hunger and disease. throughout the Palestinian coastal enclave.
“The amount of assistance 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 demands to “reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory.” ”.
Almost immediately, lawyers, human rights advocates and other experts questioned the US administration's apparent threat to cut off US military assistance to Israel.
“Once again, the Biden administration is doing bureaucratic gymnastics to avoid enforcing US law and ending arms transfers to Israel,” said Annie Shiel, US advocacy director at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, in a post on social media.
“Meanwhile, thousands more Palestinian civilians will be killed, maimed and starved during these 30 days.”
While its own laws require the United States to suspend military assistance to a country if that country restricts the delivery of US-backed humanitarian aid, US President Joe Biden's administration has so far refused to apply that rule to Israel, they note. the experts.
So what is this week's letter about, how have stakeholders and experts responded, and what might come next? Here's what you need to know.
What did the letter say?
Blinken and Austin acknowledged the horrific humanitarian crisis in Gaza, including the risks faced by 1.7 million people who have been forced, through multiple evacuation orders, to move to a narrow coastal area in the bombed territory.
They said they were “particularly concerned” that recent Israeli actions “are contributing to an accelerated deterioration” of conditions. Those actions include Israel blocking commercial imports into Gaza and “denying or preventing nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September.”
The letter called on the Israeli government to institute a series of measures over the next 30 days, including:
- Allow a minimum of 350 trucks a day to enter Gaza
- Provide “adequate humanitarian pauses” to allow humanitarian deliveries and distributions to take place, at least for the next four months.
- Rescind evacuation orders “when there is no operational need”
American 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 stating that there is no Israeli government plan to expel Palestinian civilians.
What American law is Israel accused of violating?
In their letter, Blinken and Austin cited Section 620I of the United States 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 Management Act to any country when the President is informed that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transportation or delivery of humanitarian assistance from the United States. ” section says.
The law provides an exception to the rule, allowing aid to continue flowing to a country if a U.S. president determines that doing so is in the interest of U.S. national security. But the president must notify congressional committees that such a decision was made and why.
Biden has not invoked that exemption in the case of Israel's war on Gaza.
The United States provides Israel at least $3.8 billion in military assistance annually, and Biden has approved an additional $14 billion in aid since the war in Gaza began in early October 2023.
What is happening on the ground in Gaza?
Israel has denied blocking humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, and its COGAT agency that oversees deliveries has said it will continue to expand “efforts to facilitate humanitarian aid throughout Gaza.”
However, the United Nations and other humanitarian aid groups have for months accused the country of hindering their efforts to bring food, water, medicine and other critical assistance to the Palestinians.
Concerns about the worsening humanitarian crisis increased recently after the Israeli military issued more evacuation orders and tightened its siege in northern Gaza while launching a renewed ground offensive in the area.
On Thursday, the UN hunger tracking system, known as the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), said 1.84 million Palestinians in Gaza faced high levels of acute food insecurity. Of them, 133,000 suffered from “catastrophic” insecurity.
Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International, warned that Israel was “forcing civilians to choose between starvation or displacement, while their homes and streets are relentlessly bombarded 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.” nor delays.”
“Every time a mission is prevented, the lives of people in need and humanitarian personnel on the ground are at even greater risk,” Msuya said.
Last month, 15 aid groups – including Save the Youngsters, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee Council – also reported that “Israel's systematic obstruction of aid” has meant that 83 percent of food aid required does not reach Gaza.
“A record average of 69 aid trucks per day entered Gaza in August 2024, compared to 500 per weekday last year; that was no longer enough to satisfy the needs of the people. In August, more than a million people did not receive food rations in southern and central Gaza.” they said.
What have experts said 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 620i is being violated.”
“Under US law, this makes Israel ineligible to receive US weapons or security assistance,” he said. he wrote on social media.
Others questioned why Washington has given Israel 30 days to allow more humanitarian assistance to reach Gaza before cutting off military assistance, despite evidence showing deliveries are being hampered.
“Yeah [Biden] If he was serious, he would have done it already, as the law requires,” said Matt Duss, executive vice president of the Center for International Policy, a think tank in Washington, DC.
“After 30 days they will thank Israel for easing some restrictions (which still do not meet the legal requirement) and will keep the ammunition flowing.” he added on social media platform X.
Sarah Leah Whitson, a lawyer and executive director of the US-based think tank DAWN, also said that while the letter marked “an important and unprecedented signal that Israel has crossed even the Biden administration's permissive red lines” , concrete actions are still needed.
“Now we need the Biden administration to show action, not just words, in enforcing American laws, which prohibit aid to Israel given not only its relentless obstruction of humanitarian aid but also its deliberate starvation and relentless bombing of civilians in Gaza,” he said in a statement. .
Why was the letter issued now?
The dire conditions in northern Gaza – and fears that Israel's siege of the area would put hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk – have once again highlighted restrictions on humanitarian aid.
Speaking before the UN Security Council this week, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “a “The ‘famine policy’ in northern Gaza would be horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and American law.”
“The Government of Israel has said that this is not its policy, that food and other essential supplies will not be cut, and we will be watching to see if Israel's actions on the ground match this statement,” he said.
Critics have accused Israel of implementing a plan, devised by former generals, that calls for people to starve in northern Gaza to force residents to evacuate the area and declare it a closed military zone.
The Related Press news agency reported earlier this week that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu was “examining” the plan, dubbed the “Normal Plan.”
The Biden administration's letter also arrives just weeks early the united states presidential electionsin which Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will face former Republican President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration's strong support for Israel has been a major source of criticism ahead of next month's vote, and Harris faces calls to increase pressure on Israel to end the war, including by suspending arms transfers to the ally. of the United States.
But Harris rejected that demand 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.