Aid groups say Israel missed US deadline to boost humanitarian help for GazaIsrael has failed to meet the US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organisations said.
The Biden administration last month called on Israel to “surge” more food and other emergency aid into Gaza, giving it a 30-day deadline expiring on Tuesday. It warned that failure to comply could trigger US laws requiring it to scale back military support to Israel.
Israel has announced a series of steps towards improving the situation. But US officials recently signalled Israel isn’t doing enough, though they have not said if they will take any action against it.
Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday he was confident “the issue would be solved”. The Biden administration may have less leverage after the re-election of Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.
Tuesday’s report, authored by eight international aid organisations, listed 19 measures of compliance with the US demands. It said Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four.
The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the *****ren.
Israeli forces close entrances to BethlehemPost too long. Click here to view the full text.