Gaza War: Situation in Gaza: Israel threatens to restrict US military aid

Since the Gaza war began more than a year ago, the United States has supported Israel with billions of dollars in military aid. However, with the expiry of a 30-day deadline set by the USA on October 13th, within which Israel should improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the Jewish state is threatened with restrictions on this support.

“This week we will decide what progress they (Israel) have made,” President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on CBS. Then we will decide on an appropriate reaction.

The USA is Israel’s most important ally and by far its largest arms supplier. Exactly which weapons could be affected by any cuts is unclear. Such a measure could definitely hit Israel hard. It is a dilemma for the USA: They want to force Israel to move on the Gaza issue, but at the same time do not want to limit the country’s ability to defend itself against its enemies, above all Iran. However, it is assumed that offensive weapons in particular could be affected, but not defense systems against missile attacks from Iran.

Despite its criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war, the USA has so far refrained from restricting military aid. If this really happens, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government can hope for an old ally: the new US leadership under Donald Trump could reverse any restrictions next year.

US warning letter on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed their “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a strongly worded letter in October and called for “urgent and sustained action” from the Israeli government.

A week ago, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller acknowledged that Israel had taken important steps to increase humanitarian aid. However, more is needed to alleviate the suffering of the people in the densely populated, sealed-off coastal area, which has been largely destroyed after more than a year of war.

Israel’s military announces expansion of humanitarian zone

Shortly before the deadline for implementing US demands, the Israeli army announced an expansion of the so-called humanitarian zone in the contested Gaza Strip. There are field hospitals, tents as well as food, water and medicine in the zone, the army spokesman said in Arabic.

However, Gazans point out that there is no safe place in the coastal strip. Even in the zone that had been declared safe, there had been repeated deadly attacks by the army.

Warnings of famine in the north

Aid organizations have urgently warned of famine, particularly in the north of the coastal strip. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock therefore called on Israel to open all border crossings for aid deliveries. “Never in the last 12 months has so little aid come to the Gaza Strip as now,” she criticized. Israel has repeatedly made promises in this regard, which then “were not kept.” According to media reports, the USA is demanding, among other things, that Israel allow at least 350 trucks per day through all four border crossings into the Gaza Strip and that a fifth crossing be opened.

A large proportion of the more than two million people in Gaza suffer from “acute malnutrition and live in unimaginable conditions,” Baerbock continued. Nowhere in the world are there so many children with amputations in such a small area. “Large parts of Gaza are an absolute field of rubble,” said the minister.

With winter approaching, nothing is more urgent than the release of the hostages held by the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas and the delivery of urgently needed relief supplies for the civilian population – “food, water, medicine, hygiene products, tents.”

Problem of looting of aid supplies

According to Israel, aid deliveries are repeatedly plundered by the Islamist Hamas, which then sells the goods to the population at exorbitant prices and thus wants to secure its continued rule.

The left-liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that armed gangs had organized themselves in the area of ​​the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip and were looting aid transports. The Israeli army is not preventing this out of concern that international aid workers could be harmed if they intervene. This in turn could increase international criticism of Israel. The looting demonstrated “the complete anarchy that reigns in Gaza because there is no functioning civilian government,” the paper wrote.

Israel is considering options for distributing the goods

The Israeli news site “Ynet” reported that the political leadership in Israel is considering three options with regard to aid deliveries. One is not to do anything about the current situation, even though Hamas is receiving aid supplies. The other options are for the Israeli army to distribute the aid – although it rejects this – or for a US security company to take over the distribution.

The Israeli government rejects the Palestinian Authority’s takeover of control of the Gaza Strip, which the international community is striving for – as well as a two-state solution.