U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a news conference in Tel Aviv, January 9, 2024, during his week-long visit aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East amid ongoing tensions between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. The fighting continues.
Alberto Pizzoli | AFP | Getty Images
The United States announced on Tuesday that it would not make a major policy shift toward Israel after a 30-day deadline for the United States to improve humanitarian aid to Gaza expires.
“We have not yet assessed whether Israel violated U.S. law,” Vedant Patel, principal deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, told a news conference in Washington.
“We have seen some progress, and we want to see more changes happen. We believe that without U.S. intervention, these changes may never happen,” Patel said.
The requirements and deadlines were laid out in a joint letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dated Oct. 13. of Gaza Strip.
The letter also calls on Israel to increase security at humanitarian sites and increase the number of humanitarian pauses in its military operations.
A month later, an average of more than 30 trucks were reportedly allowed into Gaza every day Philippe LazzariniCommissioner General of UNRWA, the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees.
Palestinians, including children, wait to receive food distributed by aid organizations in Deir Bala, Gaza, on November 10, 2024.
Ashraf Amra | Anadolu | Getty Images
Patel defended the decision not to change the U.S. stance on Israel, which is under scrutiny at home and abroad.
“We would like to see an overall improvement in the humanitarian situation and we think some of these measures will create the conditions for continued progress in this process,” Patel said.
At the same time, international organizations continue to Raise the alarm The humanitarian toll of Israel’s Gaza war. A coalition of humanitarian aid groups recently assessed that Israel has not made significant progress on any of the U.S. demands.
More than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the conflict began in October 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel that killed more than 1,000 people.
Most of the dead in Gaza were women and children killed in attacks on residential buildings. United Nations Human Rights Office said in a press release earlier this month.
outgoing president Joe Biden He has been a staunch supporter of Israel, reiterating that it was “ironclad” after meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
