ReutersThe US said the 1.7 million Palestinians flocking to al-Mawasi area were at “high risk of deadly infection”.
The US has written to Israel to give it 30 days to expand access to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip or risk having some US military aid cut off. .
The letter, sent on Sunday, represents the strongest known written warning from the United States to an ally and marks a new attack by Israel in northern Gaza, which has reportedly caused numerous civilian casualties. issued during the attack.
The report said the United States was deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation, adding that Israel had denied or obstructed nearly 90% of humanitarian operations between the two Koreas in the last month.
Israeli officials were reported to have added that Israel was reviewing the letter and that the country “takes this matter seriously” and would "address the concerns raised” with the American side.
Israel had previously said it was targeting Hamas operatives in the north and had not stopped humanitarian aid from entering the country.
On Monday, Kogat, the Israeli military agency responsible for immigration control in Gaza, announced that 30 trucks carrying aid from the World Food Program had entered northern Gaza through the Erez border.
This ends a two-week period in which the United Nations said no food aid was delivered to the north, leaving the 400,000 Palestinians there without essential survival supplies.
The United States is by far Israel's largest arms supplier, and the Israeli military has relied heavily on American-supplied aircraft, guided bombs, missiles and artillery shells over the past year to fight the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The U.S. letter to the Israeli government, whose contents are currently being verified by the State Department, was first reported by the Axios website. It is signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
“We are now writing to highlight the U.S. government’s deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and urge your government to take urgent and sustained action this month to reverse this trajectory.” It’s dark.
The report said Israeli evacuation orders have forced 1.7 million people into the narrow coastal Almawasi region, where extreme overcrowding puts them at “high risk of deadly contagion” and humanitarian organizations say It states that they report that their survival needs are not being met.
“We are particularly concerned about the suspension of commercial imports, the denial or obstruction of nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, and the continuation of burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions; Recent actions by the Israeli government, including the introduction of new screening and burdensome measures, have accelerated the situation in Gaza, along with increased illegality and looting. “This is contributing to the deterioration,” he added.
The letter said Israel “must act on a series of concrete measures to increase aid supplies starting now and within 30 days,” adding that failure could “impact U.S. policy.” .
The report cites U.S. laws that can prohibit military aid to countries that would prevent the U.S. from providing humanitarian aid.
The report says Israel needs to “urgently deploy all forms of humanitarian assistance across Gaza” by winter. These include ensuring that at least 350 trucks per day can pass through all four major intersections and a new fifth, and ensuring safe passage for the people of Al Mawashi. Included. Move inland.
It also calls on Israel to end the “isolation of northern Gaza” by reaffirming that “there is no Israeli government policy of forcibly displacing civilians” from the north to the south.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference in Washington on Tuesday that the letter was “private diplomatic communication that is not intended to be made public.”
“Secretary Blinken, along with Secretary Austin, thought it appropriate to make clear to the Israeli government that once again changes are needed to restore levels of assistance to Gaza.”
Miller declined to speculate on what the consequences would be for Israel if it did not expand access to humanitarian aid.
But he said, “Recipients of U.S. military aid do not arbitrarily refuse or obstruct the provision of U.S. humanitarian assistance. That is exactly the law, and we will of course follow the law. But , our hope is that Israel will make the changes we have outlined.”
He also said the 30-day deadline was unrelated to the U.S. presidential election scheduled for Nov. 5, saying “it’s appropriate to allow time to address a variety of issues.”
Israel has previously insisted there is no limit to the amount of aid and humanitarian aid that can be delivered in and across Gaza, and has accused UN agencies of failing to distribute supplies. It also accuses Hamas of stealing aid, a charge the organization denies.
Before Israel launched a ground offensive on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in May, President Joe Biden first suspended single shipments of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs in an attempt to deter an all-out Israeli offensive. .
But the president quickly faced pushback from Republicans in Washington and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared to liken it to an “arms embargo.” The suspension was partially lifted in July, but has not been reinstated.
AFP
Jabalia has been under heavy shelling since Israeli forces launched a new ground offensive 10 days ago.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned early Tuesday that families in northern Gaza are “facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion and exhaustion” due to Israeli military offensives that began 10 days ago. .
The Israeli army said it had sent tanks and troops back for the third time to root out Hamas fighters who had regrouped in the town of Jabalia and its urban refugee camp.
The government ordered residents of Jabalia and nearby Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun to evacuate to a “humanitarian zone” in Al Mawashi.
The United Nations says about 50,000 people have fled to Gaza City and other parts of the north. However, for many people, it is not safe to leave their home or they are unable to do so due to illness or disability.
Khalid, a Jabalia resident whose story of the past year is featured in a new BBC documentary, said in an audio note that he and his family had been living in fear for a week.
“We were told to go south, but we couldn’t because the Israeli army surrounded the area with earthen barricades and quadcopter drones. It was too difficult to move.”
“At the same time, we live in constant fear because of the heavy bombing. My daughter is sick and has a fever. She is shaking all over with fear because of the sound of the bombing. I don’t know what to do. I can’t even take her to the hospital.”
Gaza’s civil defense agency, run by Hamas, said first responders had recovered the bodies of 42 people killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Jabalia and neighboring areas on Tuesday.
They reportedly included 11 members of the same family, almost all women and children, whose homes were destroyed in overnight airstrikes.
The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that Israeli troops had killed “dozens of terrorists” in the Jabaria area the previous day.
On Monday, Israeli human rights groups echoed broader Palestinian concerns and warned of what they called “disturbing signs that the Israeli military is quietly beginning to implement the General’s Plan.”
The controversial plan calls for the deportation of all civilians in the north, then surrounding the remaining Hamas fighters there to force their surrender and freeing Israeli hostages. are.
The Israeli military denies implementing this measure, saying it is “simply keeping civilians out of danger.”
Israel launched an operation to annihilate Hamas in response to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left approximately 1,200 people dead and 251 hostages taken.
More than 42,340 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled region’s health ministry.
