Israel's Gaza aid efforts in 'right direction,' says US, but urges further action

The United States on Tuesday (Nov 12) said that Israel was not violating US laws regarding the level of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza, but urged further progress. This comes a month after US President Joe Biden's administration set a November 13 deadline for Israel to improve access to humanitarian assistance or risk the suspension of some military aid.

US's 30-day deadline to Israel

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israel expressing concern over Gaza's humanitarian conditions. Setting a 30-day deadline until November 13, they asked Israel to comply with US laws on permitting humanitarian assistance.

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While the US acknowledged improvements, including new border crossings and a gradual increase in aid flow, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said: “The overall humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be unsatisfactory”.

However, when asked previously if Israel had met US demands, he said “We have not made an assessment that they (Israel) are in violation of US law.”

Patel said that though the steps are insufficient infully addressing the humanitarian crisis, they arein the “right direction.”

“In the context of the letter, it's not about whether we find something satisfactory or not; it's what are the actions that we're seeing.”

“These actions that we have seen, we think that these are steps in the right direction,” he said.

“We want to see more steps. We want to see these steps sustained over a significant period of time, and ultimately, we want to see these steps have a result on the situation.”

The US had outlined a goal of 350 aid trucks entering Gaza daily—an unmet target. The State Department spokesperson emphasised that assessment is ongoing, with further action possible if progress stalls.

“After this 30-day period is up, we are constantly assessing and evaluating, and if we do not see consistent progress, if we do not see the results on the ground, then we will, of course, make appropriate assessments about their compliance with international law,” he said.

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The State Department said Ron Dermer, a senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met Blinken in Washington on Monday (Nov 11)to discuss the situation and highlighted Israeli efforts to meet US demands.

Hostage deal

Patel also said that despite Qatar's suspension of mediation, the US still hoped to reach a Gaza ceasefire deal.

“We're continuing to pursue a number of initiatives to secure the release of hostages. That work is ongoing. We have not given up hope,” he told reporters, adding “It's critical to us to get a deal done as soon as possible, especially so that we can bring the remaining hostages home to their families.”

(With inputs from agencies)