The Biden administration, warning that humanitarian conditions for more than 2 million civilians in Gaza are "increasingly dire," has given Israel a 30-day deadline to improve the situation. According to a letter seen by Axios, officials warned Israel that failure to allow more aid into Gaza could have "implications" including a halt to weapons transfers. State department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed Tuesday that the letter, signed by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, was genuine but said it was meant to be a private diplomatic communication, the Guardian reports.
The letter, dated Sunday, said Israel moved to increase the flow of aid in the spring but since then, deliveries have dropped more than 50%, with September seeing the lowest amount of aid delivered of any month in the past year, the Times of Israel reports. "To reverse the downward humanitarian trajectory and consistent with its assurances to us, Israel must—starting now and within 30 days—act on the following concrete measures," Blinken and Austin wrote. They said Israel needs to allow at least 350 trucks of aid per day through checkpoints it controls, facilitate the delivery of aid through Jordan, and end the "isolation of northern Gaza," where an Israel offensive is underway.
Blinken and Austin warned that under US law, military assistance to countries that impede delivery of humanitarian aid from the US can be blocked, the BBC reports. Miller said the administration hopes the warning will lead to "a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance." (More Israel-Hamas war stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
