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, according to reports published Tuesday.
The Sunday letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, 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," they wrote, according to a purported 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" its 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.
Neither the Pentagon, nor the State Department, responded to requests for comment on the purported letter.