U.S. warns Israel it may restrict military aid if Gaza humanitarian situation doesn't improve
The Biden administration has warned it may restrict military aid to Israel if the humanitarian situation in Gaza doesn't improve in 30 days.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has warned Israel that if the humanitarian situation in Gaza doesn't improve within the next 30 days, the U.S. may restrict military assistance to Israel.
In a letter Sunday to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. must continually assess under its own law whether Israel is “directly or indirectly” impeding the transport of U.S. humanitarian assistance to Gaza. If it is, they warned that the U.S. could halt additional foreign military financing, according to two U.S. officials and a defense official.
A child last week walks next to destroyed tents after an Israeli airstrike on the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty ImagesState Department spokesperson Matt Miller confirmed the existence of the letter in a briefing Tuesday but would not comment on what consequences Israel would face if the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza does not improve.The Biden administration sent a similar warning to Israeli officials in April ahead of a required report, and the U.S. ultimately determined the actions taken by Israel to improve the humanitarian situation afterward met the requirements under the law.
“We have been having a number of ongoing conversations with them about the very serious decrease in the level of humanitarian assistance,” Miller said Tuesday. “Ultimately, we did not see our concerns sufficiently addressed, which is why the two secretaries sent the letter.”
The letter Sunday comes as the situation in the Gaza Strip further deteriorates. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health on Tuesday, 55 people were killed and 329 were injured in the prior 24 hours. The ministry says the total death toll in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel is more than 42,000.
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