Biden Admin Threatens to Cut Off Military Assistance to Israel if Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Don’t Improve

Last updated on October 15th, 2024 at 02:57 pm

President Joe Biden’s administration recently sent a warning message that they may cut off U.S. military assistance to Israel if the Israeli government doesn’t take greater steps to improve humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip after more than a year of fighting there.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer on Sunday Oct. 13, calling for “urgent and sustained actions” from the Israeli government to address the humanitarian conditions of the Gaza Strip.

Austin and Blinken further assessed the level of humanitarian aid making its way through Israeli checkpoints to the Gaza Strip has fallen by 50 percent since the spring. Austin and Blinken further assessed September the lowest levels of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza of any month during the past year.”

The warning letter notes U.S. federal law and an official memorandum Biden enacted in February require countries receiving U.S. arms transfers to facilitate and not arbitrarily deny or impede the transfer of U.S. humanitarian assistance.

Austin and Blinken’s warning letter comes amid reports Israeli leaders are considering ordering their forces to close off certain sections of the Gaza Strip, and shut off all humanitarian aid, in an effort to crush any remaining resistance. The plan, which was devised by retired Israeli generals and has been dubbed the “Generals’ Plan,” entails Israeli forces giving all civilians in a designated area a final chance to relocate to other parts of Gaza through security checkpoints, before Israeli forces cordon off the targeted area and proceed to starve out those who remain. The plan further entails Israeli forces applying these starvation cordons section by section across the Gaza Strip, until their enemies are defeated.

The Biden administration has already signaled it would oppose the “Generals’ Plan.”

“That would be absolutely unacceptable,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at an Oct. 9 press briefing, as details of the “Generals’ Plan” came up in questions.

The letter gives 30 days notice for Israeli authorities to surge overland deliveries of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and to stop isolating embattled sections of northern Gaza.

Austin and Blinken specifically called for Israel to enable a minimum of 350 humanitarian aid trucks to reach the Gaza Strip by land crossings each day, implement pauses in combat actions to allow humanitarian aid deliveries to proceed and to take other actions to coordinate with aid delivery organizations to ensure their safety.

They also raised concerns about the approaching winter season, and called for Israeli forces to create safe zones for internally displaced refugees further from the sea. Currently, the main Israeli-designated safe zone, is located in Muwasi, situated along the Mediterranean coastline. Austin and Blinken said Israeli forces should also rescind any evacuation orders within the Gaza Strip that aren’t strictly necessary for Israel’s military operations.