Biden-Harris administrator warns Israel against humanitarian aid to Gaza, leaked letter shows

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israel urging it to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or risk losing crucial security aid.

The letter was intended to be a private, diplomatic communication and was not intended for the public, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said at a news conference on Tuesday.

“What we have seen in recent months is that the level of humanitarian assistance could not be sustained,” adding: “Ultimately, our concerns were not adequately addressed, which is why the two secretaries sent the letter that they did.” Miller warned.

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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby sought to allay fears, telling reporters that the letter was not intended as a threat. “The letter should simply reiterate the urgency that we feel and the seriousness with which we feel the need for an increase, a dramatic increase, in humanitarian assistance. And that’s what you can do with your boyfriend. This is what you can do with your ally. And it’s not the first time we’ve told Israel this. But hopefully we don’t have to share it again.

Some critics complained that the letter did not represent a threat.

“I’m not sure what’s worse to consider: that threatening an ally is necessary political pre-election theater to pacify radical pro-Hamas leftists, or that it is actually U.S. policy to cut off Israel’s weapons if Israel does not agree to this.” “Feeds, drives and funds Hamas,” Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former NSC official in the Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.

“Because let’s be clear: That’s what this is really about – whether Hamas survives by controlling humanitarian aid and its distribution,” Goldberg said.

The letter, first obtained by Axios, expressed “deep concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza” and particularly worried about the Israeli government’s recent actions, including halting commercial imports and denying or obstructing nearly 90 visits % of humanitarian movements between Gaza North and South Gaza in September “contributed to an accelerated deterioration of conditions in Gaza.”

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Since Israel’s assurances last spring, which the letter acknowledges, led to significant improvements in the humanitarian situation, the amount of aid delivered to Gaza fell by 50% in September, the lowest amount of aid in a month since the beginning of the war.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the Pentagon, June 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

The letter said Israel had 30 days to “reverse the humanitarian downward trend” and meet its obligations to the US. Failure to meet these demands, the letter states, would violate existing U.S. law and have serious implications for U.S. national security policy.

Israel defended its humanitarian response to the crisis in Gaza in a statement released on Monday by COGAT, the army department responsible for aid to Gaza, saying: “Since the start of the war, Israel has allowed the international community to provide 54,270 aid items Trucks to Gaza transported 1,064,820 tons of humanitarian aid through various border crossings, including 38,746 trucks carrying approximately 824,078 tons of food.

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Haifa, Israel, under rocket fire from southern Lebanon on September 30, 2024. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The United States must continually evaluate the provision of humanitarian assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act in order to provide foreign military financing assistance to Israel. President Biden issued a memorandum in February stating that countries receiving U.S. weapons must comply with international humanitarian law and provide written assurances that they are complying with the laws of war.

The United States has increased billions of dollars in security aid to Israel since the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023. Israel is also the largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid since its founding, receiving around $310 billion in economic and military aid. On average, the United States provides Israel with over $3 billion in security assistance annually.

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A major component of the security assistance includes $500 million a year for joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs, particularly Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow II, which have been dedicated since October to preventing rocket and missile attacks from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran are of crucial importance. 7.

Part of the military assistance to Israel since October 7 includes 13,981 120 mm M830A1 high-explosive multi-purpose anti-tank tracer (MPAT) cartridges, 500 aircraft deliveries and 107 sea transports to Israel with over 50,000 tons of ammunition and weapons systems, according to the Congressional Research Service.

On October 1, 2024, shelter tents were erected near collapsed buildings in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip. (Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images)

The US also announced that it would send military personnel and initial components necessary to operate the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to Israel to strengthen the country’s security.

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“The deployment of the THAAD battery to Israel underscores the United States’ commitment to defending Israel and defending Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran,” Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Opinion.

According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, over 40,000 people have been killed since hostilities began following the terror group’s massacre of Israelis last October. About 1,200 Israelis were massacred and 257 were kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. According to the International Rescue Committee, all 2.1 million people in Gaza need urgent humanitarian assistance and 1.9 million people are internally displaced.