The United States has taken a step to pressure Israel to ease its blockade of Gaza in the letter that recently emerged for leaks to Israel from the United States’ top officials.  ‘The letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin outlines the increasing frustration among Biden officials at the stringent restrictions Israel imposes on humanitarian aid entering Gaza. ‘ It is also one of the most direct US criticisms of how Israel handles the flow of aid into Gaza.’

‘The U.S. and Israel have been calling on Israelis to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, which has been very severe and limited for 1.7 million Palestinians.  Contrary to this, the letter from the members of parliament raises some severe objections to Israel’s restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Gaza. ‘ The country has barred lorries, restricted drivers, and only allowed aid use of limited ports, which have made it lengthy and challenging to deliver aid to the people in Gaza.

One of the high points of the letter is the fact that it accuses Israel of deteriorating the humanitarian condition in Gaza because the latter has failed to live up to its promise of opening enough entry avenues for aid.  While Israel asserts that Hamas also steal the aid and sells it, the U.S. places a higher emphasis on Israel’s obligations toward the civilian sector, ensuring that assistance reaches these desperate people.  This follows a growing international scrutiny of Israel’s policies, one of which is an allegation that the country employs starvation as a weapon of war, denied by Israel.

The U.S. letter also alludes to the issue of long-standing Israeli hostility towards UNRWA, the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees.  U.S. officials warn that UNRWA’s functions cannot be weakened and constrained without disastrous consequences for the welfare of Palestinians in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, which only adds yet another layer of complexity to the issue at hand.

In truth, the letter is a sign of building tension between the U.S. and Israel, with the U.S. now warning it might lose military aid if Israel doesn’t do something to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The Biden administration’s stance highlights growing frustration over how Israel has handled Gaza and a call for change in how it brings aid and humanitarian efforts into the area.

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