Middle EastAnalysis

US failing to push Israel to improve Gazans’ access to life-saving aid, say international agencies

Israeli military operations have caused conditions approaching famine for 800,000 Palestinian civilians across Gaza, say agencies

Palestinians queue up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, in mid-October. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Palestinians queue up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, in mid-October. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Michael Jansen's picture
Michael Jansen
Wed Nov 13 2024 - 15:50

A coalition of eight international aid agencies has criticised Washington for failing to use arms supplies as leverage to press Israel to meet this week’s US deadline to boost life-saving aid to 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.

The deadline was set in an October 13th letter from US secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin to their Israeli counterparts. The letter gave Israel 30 days to improve conditions in Gaza or face a potential suspension of weapons deliveries. The US provides Israel with 69 per cent of its imported weapons, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Although President Joe Biden’s administration agreed Israel had not met US requirements, spokesman Vedant Patel said Israel was not in violation of US law prohibiting weapons deliveries to states blocking aid access. During the 13-month war, the administration has not used political or weapons leverage on Israel to secure aid, a ceasefire or an end to the war. Patel argued the US is the largest donor of aid for Palestinians without mentioning that the administration defunded the Palestine refugee agency Unrwa in January.

[ What is Unrwa and why has Israel’s parliament voted to ban it? ]

On their “Gaza scorecard”, the agencies wrote, “Israeli military operations have denied [Gazans] critical food and basic necessities, which has, in turn, caused conditions approaching famine for 800,000 Palestinian civilians across Gaza.” Conditions are worse in Gaza’s north due to Israeli military operations which have “cut off humanitarian aid to the area”, they said.

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The agencies added: “Israel not only failed to meet the US criteria [but] took actions that dramatically worsened the situation.”

Care, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children, Anera, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Med Global and Refugees International jointly created the scorecard. This revealed that of 19 US demands Israel had partially complied with four: to allow Palestinians to move inland from al-Mawasi coastal “safe zone” for the winter, to end bans on essential items, to waive customs on Jordanian supplies and to permit Jordan’s aid trucks to use northern crossings.

Aid groups said that over 25 days an average of 42 trucks a day entered Gaza. The US called for 350 trucks to enter Gaza each day. The groups said Israel did not permit the passage of 100 trucks carrying commercial items.

Although Israel was told to rescind evacuation orders where there was no military need, Reuters reported that 79 per cent of Gaza was under evacuation orders as of November 11th.

“The effectiveness of international diplomatic efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza hinges on the United States and other countries to push Israel,” the agencies said. They warned that failures to meet Gaza’s needs and respect international law “are already being repeated in Lebanon”.

In response to these criticisms, an Israeli official told CNN that Israel had “responded positively to most American requests, many of which were already under way”.