According to multiple reports, the Biden-Harris administration is warning Israel that if it does not improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, it will risk losing military aid. The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a letter on Sunday that if Israel does not allow a steady flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza within the next 30 days, the Biden-Harris administration may withhold military assistance.
Specific requests include that Israel must ensure that hundreds of aid trucks enter Gaza per day, stop implementing certain evacuation orders and withdraw Israeli forces “from non-operational parts of the enclave.”
“Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law,” Blinken and Austin told Dermer and Gallant, according to a copy of the letter obtained by reporter Barak Ravid. NSM-20 refers to U.S. regulations outlining the conditions military aid can be transferred to other allies.
In April, the Israeli government agreed that it would meet the U.S.’ desired terms to ensure aid delivery into Gaza, according to multiple reports. But the Biden-Harris administration reportedly believes Israel has thus far failed to meet these terms, Blinken and Austin told Dermer and Gallant.
The Daily Caller adds that the United Nations has alleged that Israel has on occasion seemingly stonewalledthe delivery of some aid into Gaza over the last year, which is urgently needed by the Palestinian people amid the ongoing conflict. Israel maintains that it is taking considerable measures to ensure aid delivery into the enclave and has no intentions of causing “starvation,” according to multiple reports.
The Biden-Harris administration has urged caution in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas and at multiple points tried to broker a ceasefire agreement, but these efforts have largely failed.
