Biden says Israel must improve Gaza's humanitarian situation in 30 days or risk losing US military aid

The United States President Joe Biden's administration sent a letter to the Israeli government, demandingto improve the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza within a month or risk violating the US laws governing foreign military assistance.

Washington further suggested that itsmilitary aid to Israelwould be in jeopardy if the Israeli government did not follow it.

Moreover, the deadline for this falls after the US presidential elections, scheduled on November 5.

The letter, jointly written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, was reportedlysent on Sunday (Oct 13) andaddressed to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer.

As the West Asia crisis intensifies, Washington's recentmove marks a significant step in the Biden administrationtrying to compel Israel to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The letter stated that the US has deep concerns about the situation and asked for "urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory.”

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The US added that the amount of aid delivered to Gaza has dropped more than 50 per cent since this spring, adding that the quantity delivered in September "was the lowest of any month during the past year".

The letter read that the US state and defence departments, under Americanlaw, “must continually assess” Israel’s adherence to its assurances made earlier this year that it would not restrict aid flows into the Palestinian enclave.

“We are 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,” the letter by Blinken and Austin said, according to CNN.

(With inputs from agencies)