On October 13, the Biden administration sent a strongly worded letter to Israel with a simple message: Allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza within 30 days, or we may pull away our military support.
At the time, Israel was in the early stages of its siege on northern Gaza, where thousands of civilians had been sheltering. The leaked letter, written by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and addressed to Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, outlined a list of concrete demands intended to ensure the flow of supplies into Gaza to address starvation, the lack of medical resources, and avoid the forced displacement of Palestinians out of northern Gaza.
When the deadline arrived 30 days later, on Tuesday, November 12, a group of humanitarian organizations published a report finding that Israel has failed to deliver on most, if not all, of the criteria outlined by the U.S in the October letter. In response, the U.S. said it will continue providing arms to Israel. …..more
