US threatens Israel with arms embargo over Gaza aid

The United States has warned Israel that military aid could be restricted unless it takes steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, in one of the more serious disputes between the two arch-allies since the October 7 massacre attack.

The State Department, the White House, and the Pentagon confirmed that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a letter on the issue to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

Secretary of State Blinken & Secretary of Defense Austin sent a letter on Monday to Israel demanding it takes steps within 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in order to avoid consequences in U.S. law for U.S. milirary aid to Israel. See letter here: pic.twitter.com/N9DDMqsL7u

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) October 15, 2024

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the private correspondence made “clear our concerns about the levels of humanitarian assistance that have been making it into Gaza.”

US National Security Communications adviser John Kirby said the letter “follows a marked decrease in humanitarian assistance, which has us concerned and which prompted the expression of the of those concerns in writing. We want that situation turned around now as soon as possible.”

The US gave Israel 30 days to turn the situation around. A similar letter was sent to Israel in April, Miller said, explaining that the situation improved for a period of time, but that aid levels have since declined.

“It has fallen by over 50%,” Miller said.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee requested a briefing from the Biden administration regarding this letter, a committee majority spokesperson told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday afternoon. As of Tuesday, the committee had not seen a copy of the letter.

Miller and Kirby spoke to many media outlets and picked up on a Channel 12 report on the dispute. Washington raised the issue at a time when it was at odds with Jerusalem over Lebanon and in conversation with it about the pending Israeli retaliatory strike on Iran.

Kirby did not comment on the threat of limited military assistance. Miller indicated that the issue was connected to a new US policy put in place in February under National Security Memorandum 20, which makes military assistance contingent on compliance with international law and international humanitarian law.

“There are provisions under US law that require us to make certain certifications. And to make those certifications, we have to see that Israel is not arbitrarily denying humanitarian assistance making it into Gaza,” Miller said.

He noted that when Blinken found Israel in compliance with that memorandum in April, he did so based on changes Israel made at the time.

But “those levels of humanitarian assistance have to be sustainable,” he said.

Restrictions on military aid under Memorandum 20 do not apply to defensive military equipment such as the anti-ballistic missile system, known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which the US sent to the region to help protect Israel against an Iranian attack. The President also has the ability to waive the memorandum.

Consequences under the law

Copies of the five-page letter were circulated on social media Tuesday. They included a long list of demands that Israel must comply with including providing the US with assurances that “there will be no policy of forced evacuation from from northern to Southern Gaza.” Humanitarian organizations must have access to northern Gaza.

The IDF still has not confirmed that it has been rolling out a version of the plan – proposed by Brig.-Gen. Giora Eiland and hundreds of mid-level reservist officers – to evacuate all Palestinian civilians from northern Gaza and completely cut Hamas off from that area. In practice, however, it has seemed to substantially carry out such a policy.

Though numbers are still rough, it is already possible that a majority of the 150,000-250,000 Palestinian civilians who were in northern Gaza last week have already been moved to southern or central Gaza.

On the other hand, military sources said that some were still being allowed to return from southern Gaza to those parts of northern Gaza that have not yet been evacuated, such as Zeitun, Shejaia, and Daraj Tuffah.

The United States, in its letter, also asked Israel to halt its actions against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which is the main humanitarian aid provider in Gaza. Israel has sought to shut the agency down after finding evidence that some of its staff participated in the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel on October 7 and that other staff members belonged to Hamas.

The US said it shared Israel’s concern but did not believe the agency should be shut down, expressing concern about Knesset legislation that would prevent the agency from operating in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Israel was also asked to allow 350 trucks of goods to enter Gaza daily and to institute adequate humanitarian pauses to allow for the distribution of aid.

There should be a rapid implementation of the World Food Program’s plan for roads, warehouses, and staging areas, the US stressed..

Israel must ensure that its Coordination and Liaison Officer can “communicate with humanitarian convoys at checkpoints and assign division level officers,” the US said in its letter.

Duel-use items should be allowed into Gaza and the Jordan Armed Forces corridors must function at full capacity, the US said.

Defense sources suggested that Israel would likely have no choice but to toe the line with US demands about the Gaza humanitarian situation by the end of the 30 days.

Those sources said that this would mean losing what Israel had hoped would be a new way to pressure Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar into making a deal for the release of the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza.

Defense sources also spoke to humanitarian issues in northern Gaza and the evacuation of Palestinians there.

The US-Israeli dispute shone the spotlight on Gaza at a time when Israel and Washington are also at odds over Lebanon, with the United States pushing Israel to pivot from a military campaign against Hezbollah to diplomacy.

The United States has raised concerns with Israel over its bombing campaign in Beirut in past weeks, the State Department said on Tuesday, adding that strikes have diminished in recent days and Washington would continue to watch very carefully.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said while there are strikes the US would consider appropriate for Israel to carry out, Washington made clear to the Israeli government that it had concerns with the nature of the bombing campaign seen in the past few weeks, largely due to the civilian toll.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron that Israel is opposed to a unilateral ceasefire with Hezbollah that does not address the security dangers facing Israel.

“Israel is working against the terrorist organization Hezbollah so that it no longer threatens its citizens on the northern border and so those residents in the north can return home safely,” Netanyahu told Macron in a phone call, according to a readout of the call from the Prime Minister’s office.

There are over 60,000 residents from Israel’s northern communities who have not been able to safely live in their homes for the last year. Creating a situation by which they can return home without fear of an October 7-style attack or relentless missile barrages on their communities has been one of the key goals of Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.

To achieve that goal, Hezbollah can no longer be perched on Israel’s border, Netanyahu told Macron.

Israel is “opposed to a unilateral ceasefire, which does not change the security situation in Lebanon, and which will only return it to the way it was,” Netanyahu explained.

Netanyahu made it clear that Israel would not accept any ceasefire that “would not prevent Hezbollah from reorganizing and rearming,” the Prime Minister’s Office said.

He also “expressed surprise” at Macron’s plan to hold an international conference in Lebanon that includes the participation of South Africa and Algeria, two countries that are arch-diplomatic foes of Israel.Those countries, Netanyahu told Macron, “deny Israel the basic right to self-defense and in fact deny its right to exist.”

Macron, who views himself as a strong supporter of the Jewish state has been a strong opponent of Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon. He has called on the international community to issue an arms embargo against Israel. France also supported the UN General Assembly resolution that denied Israel’s right to self-defense.

Reuters contributed to this report.