{"id":37569,"date":"2024-11-10T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2024-11-10T23:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=37569"},"modified":"2024-11-10T15:00:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-10T23:00:30","slug":"u-s-warns-israel-it-may-withhold-arms-unless-gaza-aid-starts-flowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/11\/10\/u-s-warns-israel-it-may-withhold-arms-unless-gaza-aid-starts-flowing\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. warns Israel it may withhold arms unless Gaza aid starts flowing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Palestinians line up for food in Rafah, southern Gaza, in March. (Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration set a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Palestinians\u2019 access to food, medicine and other necessities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Missy Ryan<\/a>, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Hudson<\/a>, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Birnbaum<\/a> and <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karen DeYoung<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updated\u00a0October 15, 2024 (WashingtonPost.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration intensified pressure on Israel this week to improve dire conditions for civilians in the Gaza Strip<\/a>, as top officials warned they would resort to punitive measures, potentially including a suspension of military aid, if humanitarian aid flows are not increased within a month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an Oct. 13 letter to senior Israeli officials, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded urgent steps to ensure noncombatants have access to food and other necessities, blaming actions by the Israeli government and lawlessness in Gaza for a recent deterioration of conditions there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Absent a change, they cautioned, the administration would be obliged to take steps laid out in laws and policies linking the facilitation of humanitarian aid during wartime and the compliance with laws of war, including the protection of civilians, to the provision of U.S. arms and military assistance. The letter, which became public Tuesday, gives the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu one month to comply, which would delay any action until after the U.S. presidential election<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the letter from Austin and Blinken, addressed to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, does not explicitly reference a possible suspension of arms transfers, it represents an implicit warning that the United States could curtail or halt those shipments if Israel does not ensure that desperate Gazans can access food, medicine and other necessities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their missive underscores the extreme friction surrounding America\u2019s ties with the Jewish state, a relationship characterized by close coordination amid the Israeli military\u2019s ongoing war against Hamas<\/a>, the Iranian-backed militant group whose fighters attacked the country on Oct. 7, 2023, but also intense strains over Israel\u2019s conduct of that fight<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes, too, at a moment of heightened fear in Washington about mounting instability across the Middle East, as Israel expands a new campaign against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Pentagon deploys U.S. troops and air defense equipment to Israel<\/a> amid the country\u2019s heightened tensions with regional powerhouse Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to see concrete measures taken to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which we know continues to be an issue,\u201d the Pentagon\u2019s deputy press secretary, Sabrina Singh, told reporters. \u201cWe want to see \u2026 that they\u2019re considering civilians in the battle space, and that\u2019s what we\u2019ve said from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United States is by far Israel\u2019s largest external backer, providing the country $3.8 billion a year in military aid. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive communications between the two governments, said the correspondence is being \u201cthoroughly reviewed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsrael takes this matter seriously,\u201d the official said, \u201cand intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Biden administration demanded Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Oct. 15. (Video: Reuters)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics of President Joe Biden\u2019s handling of the conflict in Gaza \u2014 where more than 40,000 people have died in the past year of conflict, according to local health authorities \u2014 have blamed him for not effectively leveraging American support to persuade Israel to comply with U.S. demands for an end to the violence in Gaza and a steady flow of food and other aid supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the war began, Biden has halted only one shipment of U.S. weapons bound for Israel. In May, the president decided to continue the flow of arms despite an administration review that found <\/a>Israel had contributed significantly to the insufficient flow of aid to Palestinian civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter follows a similar message Blinken sent the Israeli government in April, which officials said resulted in a temporary improvement in aid flows into the battered enclave. But the picture in Gaza has darkened once more in recent weeks, as Israeli officials have returned to areas where they cite the resilience of Hamas, particularly in the battle-ravaged northern areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), no food has entered northern Gaza since early October, increasing the risk of famine amid what it has described as an Israeli \u201csiege\u201d of the area. Residents who have been displaced multiple times have fled parts of northern Gaza once more in the past week<\/a> amid a renewed Israeli offensive in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli military office that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, COGAT, has denied<\/a> that Israel has halted the entry or coordination of aid in northern Gaza. Israeli officials have acknowledged shortfalls in the delivery of aid since the beginning of the conflict but primarily blame Hamas and criminal gangs for the problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden made his displeasure with the situation in northern Gaza known to Netanyahu when the two leaders spoke last week, noting \u201cthe imperative to restore access to the north, including by reinvigorating the corridor from Jordan immediately,\u201d according to the White House.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war has emerged as a major political liability for Biden, whose Democratic Party is now split over U.S. support to Israel. It remains unclear how the war will impact the chances of Biden\u2019s vice president, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris<\/a>, when she faces off with former president Donald Trump<\/a> in November\u2019s election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s Republican Party has been seeking to capitalize on Harris\u2019s vulnerability with Arab and Muslim voters<\/a> due to the bloodshed in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their letter, Austin and Blinken laid out specific criteria the Biden administration would like to see within the next month, including ensuring the entry of at least 350 aid trucks a day into Gaza; putting in place humanitarian pauses to enable aid delivery; lifting evacuation orders when they are no longer needed; enabling aid shipments from Jordan; and halting the isolation of northern Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The letter, which circulated on social media<\/a>, also said Israel \u201cmust \u2026 act\u201d on the measures that it lists within the 30-day deadline to avoid \u201cimplications for U.S. policy.\u201d It called on Netanyahu to \u201censure\u201d that a measure before the Knesset which would ban all government contact with UNRWA \u2014 the main U.N. agency providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem \u2014 \u201cdoes not come to pass.\u201d The letter referenced widespread reports of abuses in Israeli prisons, where thousands of Palestinians have been detained since Oct. 7. Ongoing denial of access to them by the International Committee of the Red Cross, it suggested, is a violation of international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News of Blinken and Austin\u2019s letter emerged just hours after the Pentagon confirmed the arrival of American troops and equipment in Israel that are part of a new deployment of one of its most advanced missile defense systems there. Approximately 100 troops are eventually expected to be positioned in Israel to operate the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The system is intended to bolster Israel\u2019s already robust air-defense network as the country prepares to conduct a counterstrike following Iran\u2019s ballistic missile barrage on Israel this month. The Biden administration has urged Israel to conduct only a limited response to avoid further deterioration of regional security. Netanyahu informed Biden<\/a> in a recent call that his country would limit its retaliatory action against Iran, in line with U.S. appeals, to military rather than energy or nuclear sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Biden administration officials Tuesday made clear their frustration with the humanitarian situation in Gaza as well as the heavy civilian death toll of Israel\u2019s recent operations in Lebanon, they repeatedly avoided, under questioning from reporters, making explicit threats about cutting off the flow of U.S. military aid, saying instead that they hoped Israeli leaders would make the changes demanded in the letter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters that the level of humanitarian aid is half of what it was at its peak. But he declined to detail what will happen if Israel does not comply with the U.S. requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUltimately, what we want to see here is results,\u201d he told reporters. \u201cOur hope is that Israel will make the changes that we have outlined and that we have recommended, and that the result of those changes will be a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the letter \u201cwas not meant as a threat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe letter was simply meant to reiterate the sense of urgency we feel and the seriousness with which we feel it about the need for an increase, a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance,\u201d he said in a phone briefing with reporters. \u201cThat\u2019s what you can do with your ally. And it\u2019s not the first time we\u2019ve, we\u2019ve communicated that to Israel. But hopefully we won\u2019t have to communicate it again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why the Biden administration did not simply cut off aid to Israel immediately, given Netanyahu\u2019s repeated defiance about the concerns about the civilian toll, Miller said it was \u201cappropriate to give them some time to work through the different issues and find ways to get the level of trucks, get the level of food, water, medicine, back up to acceptable levels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. officials said they believe giving Israel 30 days to comply with the demands \u2014 vs. forcing a faster schedule \u2014 was reasonable, given the complexity of the response required and the schedule of U.S. weapons deliveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who\u2019s now with the International Crisis Group, said relevant U.S. laws include the Arms Export Control Act and the Foreign Assistance Act. The Arms Export Control Act says the executive branch can only transfer arms to nations that use those weapons consistent with the laws of war and the U.N. Charter, and the Foreign Assistance Act bars U.S. military aid from going to nations that restrict the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we see here is the culmination of frustration across the administration with the way Israel has conducted its military campaign in Gaza\u201d and its actions related to other actors in the region, Finucane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration\u2019s reluctance to confirm that it would restrict arms shipments fueled immediate doubts about the seriousness of the warning from Blinken and Austin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International and a former senior Biden administration official, said he expected that Netanyahu, who has repeatedly defied U.S. requests in the conduct of his war, would be skeptical that Biden had put \u201creal teeth\u201d behind this warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it is truly different this time \u2014 and I hope it is \u2014 the White House will need to make that much more explicit,\u201d Konyndyk said. \u201cOtherwise, this will have no more effect than all the warnings he has previously ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Middle East conflict<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Israel-Gaza war<\/a> has gone on for over a year<\/a>, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding Middle East region<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The war: <\/strong>On Oct. 7, Hamas militants<\/a> launched an unprecedented cross-border attack<\/a> on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking civilian hostages<\/a>. See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded<\/a>. Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement<\/a> in the region since Israel\u2019s creation in 1948<\/a>. In July 2024, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed<\/a> in an attack Hamas has blamed on Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hezbollah:<\/strong> Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah<\/a>, a militant organization backed by Iran, have escalated over the past year, leading to an Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon<\/a>. Israel\u2019s airstrikes into Lebanon have grown more intense and deadly<\/a>, killing over 1,400 people including Hasan Nasrallah<\/a>, Hezbollah\u2019s longtime leader. The Israel-Lebanon border has a history of violence<\/a> that dates back to Israel\u2019s founding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaza crisis: <\/strong>In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century\u2019s most destructive wars<\/a>, killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into \u201cfamine-like conditions.<\/a>\u201d For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

U.S. involvement: <\/strong>Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians<\/a>, including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons<\/a>, funds aid packages<\/a>, and has vetoed <\/a>or abstained<\/a> from the United Nations\u2019 cease-fire resolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History: <\/strong>The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948<\/a>. Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

washingtonpost.com\u00a0<\/a>\u00a9 1996-2024 The Washington <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Palestinians line up for food in Rafah, southern Gaza, in March. (Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post) The Biden administration set a 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Palestinians\u2019 access to food, medicine and other necessities. By Missy Ryan,  John Hudson,  Michael Birnbaum and  Karen DeYoung Updated\u00a0October 15, 2024 (WashingtonPost.com) The Biden… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37569"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37572,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37569\/revisions\/37572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}