WASHINGTON: The United States has warned Israel that it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid, US officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israeli operations to root out Hamas began a year ago.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday expressing concern over the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian enclave, US officials said on Tuesday.
"We are writing now to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," they wrote in a letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X.
Failure to do so could impact US policy, said the letter, which was first reported by Israeli News 12. Officials confirmed the letter's veracity to Reuters and said it had been sent to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter. The White House did not immediately respond on whether President Joe Biden signed off on the letter. The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment.
Aid restrictions
The reports come as Israeli forces expand operations into northern Gaza amid ongoing concerns about access to humanitarian aid throughout the enclave and civilians' access to food, water and medicine.
The United States told the UN Security Council last week that Israel needs to address urgently "catastrophic conditions" among Palestinian civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and stop "intensifying suffering" by limiting aid deliveries.
The letter outlined specific steps Israel must take within 30 days, including enabling a minimum of 350 trucks to enter Gaza per day, instituting pauses in fighting to allow aid delivery and rescinding evacuation orders to Palestinian civilians when there is no operational need.
"Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy ... and relevant US law," the letter said. It cited Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of US humanitarian assistance. It also cited a National Security Memorandum US President Joe Biden issued in February that requires the State Department to report to Congress on whether it finds credible Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons does not violate US or international law.
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