In a letter calling for more aid to Gaza, the US points out that military aid to Israel is at risk

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The Biden administration sent a letter to the Israeli government urging it to take action to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days or risk violating U.S. foreign military assistance laws, according to which suggests that U.S. military aid may be at risk.

The Sunday letter, co-authored by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, is addressed to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. It represents a significant new move by the US to force Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

They write that the US is deeply concerned about the situation and calls for “urgent and sustained action by your government this month to reverse this trend.”

Since this spring, the amount of aid delivered to Gaza has fallen by more than 50% and the amount delivered in September “was the lowest in any month of the past year,” they added.

The deadline falls after the US presidential election on November 5th.

However, despite the dire warning, the US has continued to provide military assistance to Israel, including an advanced air defense system and US troops arriving in the country since Monday.

However, future US aid could be at risk. The Oct. 13 letter said that under U.S. law, the U.S. State Department and Department of Defense must “continuously assess” whether Israel is living up to its commitments made earlier this year not to restrict aid flows to the enclave.

A U.S. defense official said the government hoped the letter would persuade the Israelis to act. “Secretary Blinken sent a similar letter in April that received a constructive response and concrete action from the Israelis,” the official said. “This letter follows a recent decline in aid reaching Gaza and we also want to take concrete action to address this.”

The USA's list of demands is extensive. Israel must allow at least 350 trucks per day to enter Gaza through all four major border crossings, the letter says, and also open a fifth border crossing. Israel must also implement humanitarian pauses throughout the Gaza Strip over the next month, if necessary, to allow humanitarian activities, including vaccinations and aid distribution, for at least the next four months.

The US is also demanding that Israel allow people in the al-Mawasi humanitarian zone within the Gaza Strip to move inland before winter and increase security for humanitarian convoys and movements.

Israel must also take measures to ensure that Jordanian Armed Forces corridors are “fully and continuously utilized.”

The letter concludes by calling for a new channel between the U.S. and Israeli governments to “raise and discuss civil violations,” with the first meeting scheduled to take place at the end of the month.

Israeli military operations in the northern Gaza Strip have intensified in recent weeks, and the Israeli military has urged civilians there to evacuate to the south, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are already seeking refuge. The UN World Food Program warned last weekend that Israeli military operations were having a “catastrophic impact” on the food security of Palestinian families.

Blinken and Austin wrote that the Israeli government's actions appear to be contributing to the worsening humanitarian situation.

“We are particularly concerned about the Israeli government’s recent actions – including halting commercial imports, denying or obstructing nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between the northern and southern Gaza Strip in September, maintaining burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions, as well the introduction of new and burdensome checks. “Liability and customs regulations on humanitarian personnel and supplies – along with increasing lawlessness and looting – are contributing to an accelerated deterioration of conditions in Gaza,” they said.

Israel appears to be already responding to the letter, at least indirectly. Just a day after the letter was sent, COGAT, the Israeli agency that manages policy for the Palestinian territories and the flow of aid to the Strip, tweeted photos of aid shipments to Gaza.

“Today 30 trucks entered the north of the Gaza Strip through the Erez border crossing. “Israel is not preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, with a focus on food, into Gaza,” COGAT said in a post on Government infrastructures.”

This story has been updated with additional details.