The US government has issued a letter to Israel, threatening to reduce military aid if Israel does not improve access to humanitarian assistance in Gaza within 30 days’.’The warning follows an ongoing Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, which media reports claim has killed scores of civilians.  The US had expressed grave concern about the humanitarian situation, citing that Israel had obstructed nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements in September.’

Israel is considering the letter.  The Israeli official said that the government was taking seriously the issue and would take severe steps in light of the US concerns.  Israel says that it is targeting Hamas operatives and is not obstructing humanitarian aid.  Recently, 30 lorries, loaded with food aid from the World Food Programme, had entered northern Gaza after two weeks without food aid.

In Gaza, a UN official said it’s a “permanent peak emergency.” Most residents in the north have lived on UN aid alone and cannot get fresh food.  Yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin signed and sealed with their letter a US stance on a set of urgent measures Israel needs to take, as per the US view, to ease the humanitarian conditions.

The letter says that these evacuation orders have pushed 1.7 million people to overstrained areas and can heighten the peril of severe health conditions.  It talks about the steps taken by Israel, such as the suspension of commercial imports and the imposing of new restrictions on humanitarian supplies, which also help in the fanning of the crisis.  The US urges Israel to step up humanitarian aid, allow at least 350 lorries a day into Gaza before winter, and not carry out forced evacuations from northern Gaza.

The State Department clarified that it was intended as a private diplomatic message, again underlining the need for changes to ensure that humanitarian aid flows into Gaza. The U.S. has laws prohibiting military assistance to countries that obstruct U.S. humanitarian aid.

Israel alleges it has limited merely the quantity of aid that is brought into Gaza but not the quantity.  It blames the UN agencies for ineffectiveness in the distribution of assistance while accusing, on the other hand, Hamas of diverting all aid to its military and associates.  Hamas has dismissed such claims.  Earlier, there have been instances in which the US suspended its military aid supplies to Israel.  In the past, Israeli officials, as well as the Republicans, were seriously criticizing the move.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has sounded the alarm over the desperate plight of families trapped in northern Gaza, caught in the escalating crossfire of the months-long Israeli military offensive that has gained pace lately.  The Israeli military has boosted its assault on areas like Jabalia, ordering evacuation but claiming it is hunting down Hamas fighters.

The reports indicate mass casualties of civilians, yet many in the region have not been able to evacuate because of safety reasons.  Over 42,340 people are reported to have been killed in Gaza since militancy intensified after Hamas fired rockets at Israel on October 7, 2023, and 1,200 were killed in the attack.

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