Gaza aid situation not much improved, US says as deadline for Israel looms
PHOTO CAPTION: An Israeli F-35 combat aircraft is seen in the skies over Israel's border with Lebanon, in northern Israel, October 9, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Israel has taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but has so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation in the enclave, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday, as a deadline set by the U.S. to improve the situation approaches.
The Biden administration told Israel in an Oct. 13 letter it had 30 days to take specific steps to address the dire humanitarian crisis in the strip, which has been pummeled for more than a year by Israeli ground and air operations that Israel says are aimed at rooting out Hamas militants.
Aid workers and UN officials say humanitarian conditions continue to be dire in Gaza.
"As of today, the situation has not significantly turned around. We have seen an increase in some measurements. We've seen an increase in the number of crossings that are open. But just if you look at the stipulated recommendations in the letter, those have not been met," Miller said.
Miller said the results so far were "not good enough" but stressed that the 30-day period had not elapsed.
He declined to say what consequences Israel would face if it failed to implement the recommendations.
"What I can tell you that we will do is we will follow the law," he said.
Washington, Israel's main supplier of weapons, has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian militant group's Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel.
The Oct. 13 letter, sent by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, said a failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing the measures on aid access may have implications for U.S. policy and law.
Section 620i of the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act prohibits military aid to countries that impede delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance.
Israel on Monday said it was canceling its agreement with the U.N. relief agency for Palestinians (UNRWA), citing accusations that some UNRWA staff had Hamas links.
UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini said Israel had scaled back the entry of aid trucks into the Gaza Strip to an average of 30 trucks a day, the lowest in a long time.
An Israeli government spokesman said no limit had been imposed on aid entering Gaza, with 47 aid trucks entering northern Gaza on Sunday alone.
Israeli statistics reviewed by Reuters last week showed that aid shipments allowed into Gaza in October remained at their lowest levels since October 2023.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
