The main UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza (UNRWA) says Israel has failed to meet a US deadline to increase aid to the territory or face a cut in US military aid after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a strongly worded letter last month, gave Israel a 30-day ultimatum to ensure that more aid trucks – at least 350 trucks a day – reach Gaza, a deadline that expired on Tuesday, the 12th of November, reports BBC and Reuters.
Blinken sent Israel a letter of demands on the 13th of October, but Louise Wateridge, UNRWA’s senior emergency coordinator, said Israel had not done enough to meet the demands since then.
“There is not enough aid. Not enough supplies,” she said from UNRWA’s base in central Gaza. “In some areas, people are starving. People are very hungry. They are fighting for sacks of flour. There are not enough supplies.”
When asked at a press briefing in Geneva what she expected from Washington, she said: “Whatever happens is already too late. Thousands and thousands of people have been senselessly killed. They have died because of the lack of aid, because the bombing continues, and because we have not been able to reach them under the rubble.”
“Not only did Israel fail to meet US criteria for humanitarian support, but it also took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza,” a group of eight aid groups, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a 19-page report.
For more than a month, Israeli forces have been pushing deeper into northern Gaza in an operation they say is aimed at preventing Hamas militants from regrouping in the area.
The UN reports that an average of 40 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, a figure disputed by Israel, which accuses the UN of inefficiency and says that supplies are ready at the border but are hampered by looting. The UN, while rejecting these allegations, insists that Israel, as an occupying power, must ensure that aid is delivered safely, stressing that its distribution is often too dangerous because of ongoing military operations.
Israel said on Monday that it had met most US demands with measures such as opening a new Gaza crossing and delivering aid to northern Gaza, although some security issues are still under discussion.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday that hundreds of food and water packs had been sent to parts of northern Gaza in a coordinated operation.
The US has yet to confirm whether its conditions have been fully met, and the State Department has previously indicated that while some steps have been taken, the humanitarian situation has not improved significantly.