“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 was at its lowest level in months. About 80 trucks carrying aid have entered through crossings in the 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.
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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.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration believes it has won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back following Iran’s 180-missile barrage earlier this month, two US officials said.
The government also believes that sending a US Terminal High Altitude Area Defence battery (THAAD) to Israel and roughly 100 soldiers to operate it, a move announced this week, has eased some of Israel’s concerns about possible Iranian retaliation and general security issues.
However, the US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic discussions, cautioned that Israel’s assurances were not ironclad and that circumstances could change.
The officials also noted that Israel’s track record on fulfilling pledges in the past is mixed and has often reflected domestic Israeli politics that have upended Washington’s expectations.
The most recent example of that was last month, when US officials were told by their Israeli counterparts that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would welcome a US and French-led temporary ceasefire initiative in Lebanon only to see Israel launch a massive airstrike that killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah two days later.
Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron overnight that he would not agree to a ceasefire deal that failed to stop Hezbollah rearming and regrouping.
Macron has also called for an end to arms exports used in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.
“The Prime Minister told President Macron that he opposes a unilateral ceasefire, which would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
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“He emphasised that Israel is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organisation to prevent it from threatening Israel’s citizens on the northern border and to enable them to return to their homes safely.”
On Monday, France rejected demands made by Netanyahu for a UN peacekeeping mission, known as UNIFIL, to pull back from its position in Lebanon, while France has summoned Israel’s ambassador over an incident where Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by US peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
The US too said it opposes the bombing campaign in Beirut in past weeks and has communicated its concerns particularly over the civilian death toll, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
“There are specific strikes that it would be appropriate for Israel to carry out. But when it comes to the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we saw in Beirut for the past few weeks, it’s something that we made clear to the government of Israel we had concerns with and we were opposed to,” Miller said.
The civilian death toll was among Washington’s concerns, he said, without elaborating.
Miller’s comments represent a harsher tone than Washington has adopted so far toward Israel’s military operations in Lebanon.
