ADDS CONFIRMATION FROM WHITE HOUSE, STATE DEPARTMENT, REMOVES REFERENCES TO REPORTS AND LAST GRAF
By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US has demanded that Israel improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days, about a week after the Nov. 5 presidential election, or risk an American arms embargo, the Biden administration confirmed Tuesday.
In a Sunday letter to their Israeli counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made "clear our concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been making it into Gaza," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller during a press conference.
Miller said Blinken warned Israel in April regarding the levels of the humanitarian assistance as they declined, and "made clear that at the time that the levels were unacceptable and that we needed to see Israel implement changes."
"They did make changes, the changes that they made caused humanitarian assistance to increase. We got up to somewhere between 300 to 400 trucks going in on some days to Gaza. But the thing that the Secretary also made clear at the time is that the increase couldn't be a one-off, that it needed to be sustained," he added.
Regarding questions about the 30-day deadline, the spokesman said the US believes it is appropriate to give Israel "a chance to cure the problem, and international law does make exceptions."
"We continue to see Israel not taking the sufficient steps to address civilian harm" in Gaza, he added.
The White House said the letter was not meant as a threat, and was instead "simply meant to reiterate the sense of urgency we feel and the seriousness with which we feel it, about the need for a dramatic increase in humanitarian assistance."
"And that's what you can do with your friends. That's what you can do with your ally. And it's not the first time we've communicated that to Israel. But hopefully we won't have to communicate it again," National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
The letter, obtained by multiple news outlets, was unusually terse, and detailed multiple issues that could imperil the further provision of assistance.
"We are now writing to underscore the U.S. 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," Austin and Blinken wrote, according to a purorted copy of the letter posted on social media by an Axios reporter.
"We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government - including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual use restrictions, and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments - together with increased lawlessness and looting - are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," they added.
The amount of international assistance that has entered Gaza since Israel promised to increase deliveries in March and April has fallen by over 50%, and in September deliveries fell to their lowest point in a year, Austin and Blinken wrote.
The officials said their departments "must" under US law "continually assess your government's adherence to" Israel's promises not to obstruct US and US-supported international aid.
They called on Israel to surge all international assistance throughout Gaza ahead of winter, including by allowing a minimum of 350 trucks to enter the coastal territory per day, and ensuring that commercial corridors and those run by Jordan operate at "full and continuous capacity."
The letter further calls on Israel to "end isolation of northern Gaza" by reaffirming that Israel will not force Palestinian civilians to evacuate to the south, and ensuring humanitarian groups "have continuous access" to the north.
Israel has dramatically increased its attacks on northern Gaza in recent days, killing scores of Palestinian civilians and ordering them to flee. Many who have attempted to do so have reported coming under Israeli attack.
Austin and Blinken said it is "vitally important" that the US and Israel establish a "new channel" to discuss what they called "civilian harm incidents," saying their "engagements to date have not produced the necessary outcomes." They asked for first meeting of that mechanism take place by the end of October