The Biden-Harris administration is warning Israel that if it does not improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, it will risk losing military aid, according to multiple reports.
The Palestinians in Gaza have been caught in the crossfire in the war between Israel and Hamas, the latter of which invaded Israel on Oct. 7 and killed approximately 1,200 people. Though the U.S. has been largely supportive of Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas, it has become seriously concerned with the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and it seems the Biden-Harris administration may be reaching a breaking point with the Israeli government over military aid, according to several reports.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a letter on Sunday that if Israel does not allow a steady flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza within the next 30 days, the Biden-Harris administration may withhold military assistance, reports reveal. Specifically, Israel must ensure that hundreds of aid trucks enter Gaza per day, stop implementing certain evacuation orders and withdraw Israeli forces from non-operational parts of the enclave.
“Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law,” Blinken and Austin told Dermer and Gallant, according to a copy of the letter obtained by reporter Barak Ravid. NSM-20 refers to U.S. regulations outlining the conditions military aid can be transferred to other allies.
The Israeli government had agreed in April it would meet the U.S.’ desired terms to ensure aid delivery into Gaza, according to multiple reports. But the Biden-Harris administration thinks Israel has thus far failed to meet these terms, Blinken and Austin told Dermer and Gallant.
The United Nations has alleged that Israel has on occasion seemingly stonewalled the delivery of some aid into Gaza over the last year, which is urgently needed by the Palestinian people amid the ongoing conflict. Israel maintains that it is taking considerable measures to ensure aid delivery into the enclave and has no intentions of causing “starvation,” according to multiple reports.
The U.S.-Israeli relationship is a decades-long alliance, but that relationship has at times become tense, especially during the latter years of the Biden-Harris administration. The Biden-Harris administration has urged caution in Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas and at multiple points tried to broker a ceasefire agreement, but these efforts have largely failed, as neither Israel nor Hamas seem interested at the current stage.
Israel’s war against Hamas has evolved as other bad actors in the region, including Hezbollah, Iran and Iraq and Syria-based terror networks, have attacked the country since October 2023. Israel is currently eroding Hezbollah’s capabilities in Lebanon and is expected to launch a significant strike against Iran in the near future.
The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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