US gives Israel a 'fail' grade on improving aid to Gaza so far
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[November 05, 2024]
By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is stepping up criticism of
Israel for not doing enough to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza
as a 30-day deadline looms for Israeli officials to meet certain
requirements or risk potential restrictions on military assistance.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Monday gave Israel a “fail”
grade in terms of meeting the conditions for an improvement in aid
deliveries to Gaza laid out in a letter last month to senior Israeli
officials from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary
Lloyd Austin.
He said there were still roughly nine days until the deadline expires,
but that limited progress so far has been insufficient.
“As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around,” Miller
told reporters. “We have seen an increase in some measurements. But if
you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter — those have
not been met.”
A day before the U.S. election, the Biden administration called out its
close ally, with support for Israel a key issue for many voters and the
humanitarian crisis for Palestinians also a factor for many in the race.
Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been
competing for Muslim and Arab American voters and Jewish voters in
battleground states like Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Among other conditions, Austin and Blinken's letter from mid-October
said that Israel must allow in a minimum of 350 trucks a day carrying
desperately needed food and other supplies for Palestinians besieged by
more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas. By the end of October,
an average of just 71 trucks a day were entering Gaza, according to the
latest U.N. figures.
“The results are not good enough today,” Miller said. “They certainly do
not have a pass. … They have failed to implement all the things that
that we recommended. Now, that said, we are not at the end of the 30-day
period.”
He would not say when asked what the U.S. would do when the deadline
comes up next week, just that “we will follow the law.”
Blinken spoke Monday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, urging
additional steps to “substantially increase and sustain humanitarian
aid” to civilians in Gaza, according to a State Department readout of
their call.
Similarly, Austin has been reinforcing “how important it is to ensure
that humanitarian assistance can flow and flow faster into Gaza” in
calls with Gallant, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary.
The Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, known
as COGAT, said it had evacuated 72 patients from hospitals in northern
Gaza to other medical facilities Monday and had brought medical supplies
as well as fuel, food, water and units of blood.
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Palestinians gather to receive bags of flour distributed by UNRWA,
the U.N. agency helping Palestinian refugees, in Deir al Balah,
central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem
Hana)
The head of UNICEF, the U.N. agency for children, said over the
weekend that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza,
especially children, is at imminent risk of dying from disease,
famine, and the ongoing bombardments.”
Miller also said the U.S. is looking into a decision by the Israeli
government to end an agreement facilitating the work of the U.N.
agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, which is the main
aid provider in Gaza.
It followed the passage of Israeli laws last week to sever ties with
UNRWA, a move that Blinken and Austin opposed in their letter.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that it has
notified the U.N. of the cancellation of an agreement dating back to
1967 that facilitates UNRWA’s work. It said UNRWA “is part of the
problem in the Gaza Strip and not part of the solution.”
Israel alleges that UNRWA has been infiltrated by Hamas, which the
agency denies and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that UNRWA is
essential and there is no alternative to its work in the Palestinian
territories, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
At the same time, Miller said the U.S. is “deeply concerned” by a
recent escalation in attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in
the West Bank, including several cars being torched overnight just a
few kilometers (miles) away from the Palestinian Authority’s
headquarters and attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives, their
livestock and other property.
“These violent actions cause intense human suffering for
Palestinians and they threaten Israel’s security,” Miller said. “It
is critical that the government of Israel deter extremist settler
violence and take measures to protect all communities from harm in
accordance with its international obligations.”
He noted that the U.S. has since the beginning of the year imposed
sanctions against Israeli groups and people implicated in violence
against Palestinian civilians and warned of more to come.
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AP reporters Ellen Knickmeyer and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and
Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
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