US warns Israel: weapons sales at risk if Gaza humanitarian crisis not improved in 30 days

Israeli soldiers gather near a gate to go through an inspection area for trucks carrying humanitarian aid supplies bound for the Gaza Strip, on the Israeli side of the Erez crossing into northern Gaza on 1 May 2024

Ben Samuels and Jonathan Lis report in Haaretz on 15 October 2024:

Senior U.S. officials issued a highly irregular warning to their Israeli counterparts that failure to dramatically improve Gaza’s humanitarian crisis within 30 days would have ramifications, possibly including the suspension of U.S. arms sales.

An Israeli diplomatic source said that the U.S. informed Israel that it will stop supplying weapons if Israel continues to block American humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

“Israel must, starting now and within 30 days, act on the following concrete measures,” read a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli ministers Yoav Gallant and Ron Dermer. “Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 and relevant U.S. law.”

The letter, sent Sunday, described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as “increasingly dire,” adding that Blinken and Lloyd Austin were “particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government, including halting commercial imports, denying or impeding nearly 90 percent of humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza in September, continuing burdensome and excessive dual-use restrictions and instituting new vetting and onerous liability and customs requirements for humanitarian staff and shipments – together with increased lawlessness and looting – are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza.”

They noted that the quantity of aid being brought into Gaza has dropped by more than 50 percent since Israel provided assurances in March and April that it would allow humanitarian aid in accordance with U.S. law. According to the letter, the quantity of aid entering Gaza in September was the lowest of any month in the past year.

Blinken and Austin called for a minimum of 350 trucks per day to enter Gaza through both Erez crossings, Gate 96 and Kerem Shalom, as well as opening a fifth new crossing. They further called for the institution of adequate humanitarian pauses across Gaza as necessary, allowing people in Muwasi and the humanitarian zone to move inland before winter and to enhance security for fixed humanitarian sites and movements.

This includes surging all forms of humanitarian assistance ahead of winter, ensuring that commercial and Jordanian military corridors are functioning at full and continuous capacity and ending the isolation of northern Gaza by ensuring continued humanitarian access and reaffirming there will be no official policy of forced evacuation.

They further expressed concern about Knesset legislation removing privileges and immunities from UNRWA and its staff, as well as calling upon the U.S. and Israel to establish a new channel through which the U.S. can raise and discuss civilian harm incidents. “Our engagements to date have not produced the necessary outcomes. We ask that the virtual meeting of this channel be held by the end of October,” they wrote.

They also called for Israel to rescind evacuation orders when there is no operational need, to facilitate rapid implementation of the World Food Program’s winter and logistics plan, improving communication between Israeli military officials and humanitarian convoys, removing restrictions on the use of container and closed trucks, removing an agreed list of essential items from the dual-use restricted list and providing expedited clearance processing at the Port of Ashdod for Gaza-bound aid.

They additionally called for Israel to waive customs requirements on the Jordanian corridor until the UN is able to implement its own process, allowing the Jordanians to enter Gaza through the northern crossings and reinstating a minimum of 50-100 commercial trucks per day.

Earlier this week, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said that “The UN reports that no food has entered northern Gaza in nearly 2 weeks. Israel must urgently do more to facilitate the flow of aid to those in need,” adding, “Civilians must be protected and must have access to food, water, and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.”

Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip have reported increased hunger and a severe shortage of basic supplies due to the lack of aid reaching the area.

In central Gaza, there is growing concern that Israel is intentionally targeting camps and centers housing refugees and displaced persons in an effort to force them to relocate to a designated area.

Last week, Haaretz reported that Israeli far-right Finance Minister and minister in the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir were demanding to transfer responsibility for humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip to the Israeli army.  This has raised concerns among senior defense officials, who warn that assigning responsibility to the IDF could jeopardize soldiers’ safety and impose billions of shekels in costs on the defense budget.

In February, Biden issued a national security memorandum requiring foreign governments to guarantee they would not violate human rights with weapons purchased from the U.S.

It additionally required that all recipient countries provide the U.S. with credible assurances that they would comply with international law and not restrict any humanitarian efforts in areas where U.S. weapons are being used.

In May, Blinken’s report said it was reasonable to assess that Israel has used U.S.-supplied weapons in instances that are “inconsistent” with its international humanitarian law obligations.

The report, however, said the administration accepted Israel’s assurances that it would use American weapons in accordance with the law as “credible and reliable,” citing a lack of complete information to verify that U.S. weapons were indeed used in specific cases that breached its requirements as a recipient of U.S. military assistance.

The memorandum did not introduce any new legal requirements, but placed a high emphasis on existing law such as the Arms Export Control Act and Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, compelling the State Department and the Defense Department to exercise greater oversight and scrutiny on U.S. arms transfers.

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