United States Secretaries of state and defense on sunday issued a highly irregular warning to their Israeli counterparts, that failure to drastically improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within 30 days would have severe ramifications, potentially including the suspension of US arms sales.
An Israeli diplomatic source stated that the US has informed Israel that it will stop supplying weapons if Israel continues to block American humanitarian aid from entering Gaza within 30 days.
In the letter sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers Yoav Gallant and Ron Dermer, the US officials stated that “Israel must, starting now and within 30 days, act on the following concrete measures. Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy under NSM-20 and relevant US law.”
The letter described the situation in Gaza as “increasingly dire,” and expressed particular concern about recent actions by the Israeli government, such as halting commercial imports, obstructing nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, maintaining excessive dual-use restrictions, and introducing new vetting processes along with burdensome liability and customs requirements for humanitarian personnel and shipments. They noted that these measures, combined with rising lawlessness and looting, are worsening conditions in Gaza at an alarming rate.
They further noted that the amount of aid delivered had decreased by more than 50% since Israel provided assurances in March and April that it would allow humanitarian aid in adherence to US law, adding that the volume of aid entering Gaza in September was the lowest of any month in the past year.
Earlier this week, US Vice President Kamala Harris stated that “the UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly two weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.”
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