US sidesteps own 30-day deadline for Israel to improve Gaza aid
State Department spokesman says some progress has been made, but aid groups dispute US findings
The Biden administration sidestepped its own 30-day deadline for Israel to provide significantly more humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip or face a weapons cut-off, saying that progress has been made despite aid groups warning of a looming famine.
Israel has done enough to assuage US concerns but needs to do more, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said in a briefing Tuesday in Washington.
“We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law,” Patel told reporters. “If we don’t see steps being taken, we of course will appropriately enforce US law.”
The decision follows a warning from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in a joint letter dated October 13 to their Israeli counterparts of the “increasingly dire” situation in Gaza and giving Israel 30 days to improve the situation. The letter became public although it was intended to set down a private marker.
The October letter emphasised that a US law requires countries receiving American weapons to “facilitate and not arbitrarily deny, restrict, or otherwise impede” humanitarian assistance provided or supported by the US.
