WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Tuesday that Israel has made good but limited progress in increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and that it will not limit arms transfers to Israel as it had done it. threatened a month ago if the situation had not improved. Relief groups say conditions are worse than ever in the 13 month war.

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that progress made to date must be complemented and sustained but “we have not, at this time, assessed that the Israelis were violating American law. » It requires that recipients of military assistance adhere to international humanitarian law and not obstruct the provision of such aid.

“We are not giving Israel a free pass,” Patel said, adding that Israel’s steps have not yet made a significant enough difference. “We want to see the overall humanitarian situation improve, and we believe that some of these measures will create the conditions necessary for this progress to continue. »

The decision by the United States – Israel’s main ally and largest arms supplier – comes despite statements by international humanitarian organizations that Israel has not responded to US requests to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip. Hunger experts have warned that the north may already be experiencing famine.

The Biden administration last month set a deadline expiring Tuesday for Israel to ‘surge’ more food and other emergency aid into the Palestinian territory or risk the possibility of reduced military support as Israel carries out offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The obstacles facing aid distribution were exposed this week. Even after the Israeli military authorized a delivery to the northernmost part of Gaza – virtually deprived of food for more than a month because of the Israeli siege – the United Nations said it could not deliver the major part of the food due to the unrest and restrictions imposed by Israel. Israeli troops on the ground.

In the south, hundreds of aid trucks are parked on the Gaza side of the border because the UN says it cannot reach them to distribute aid – again due to the threat of anarchy, theft and Israeli military restrictions.

Dozens of people queued on Tuesday to receive food packages distributed by UN agencies in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

“We hope that the world will sympathize with us because of this affliction we find ourselves in,” said Salim Abu Mansi. “Life is poverty and the country is getting worse every day. »

Israel announces aid measures

It opened a new crossing point in central Gaza, outside the town of Deir al-Balah, to allow the entry of aid. He also announced a small expansion of his coastal “humanitarian zone,” where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in tent camps. He connected electricity to a desalination plant in Deir al-Balah. But the effect was unclear.

Israel’s new Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the significance of the delay, telling reporters Monday that he was confident “the problem would be resolved.” The Biden administration could have less leverage after Donald Trump – a staunch supporter of Israel – won the presidential election.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest aide, Ron Dermer, in Washington on Monday about Israel’s steps and stressed “the importance of ensuring that these changes lead to real improvement of the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza. “, the State Department said Tuesday.

President Joe Biden met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the White House on Tuesday, but they did not speak publicly about the aid issue. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the United States knows how dire conditions are and will continue to discuss with Israel what additional steps it needs to take.

Humanitarian organizations say Israel does not meet US criteria

Eight international groups said in a report that the country had also taken measures “that have significantly worsened the situation on the ground.” especially in northern Gaza. … This situation is even more dire today than it was a month ago.

The report lists 19 measures of compliance with U.S. demands, saying Israel failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four. It was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

In an October 13 letter, the United States gave Israel 30 days, among other things, to allow a minimum of 350 cargo trucks to enter Gaza each day; open a fifth level crossing; allow people living in coastal tent camps to move inland before winter; and guarantee access for humanitarian groups to northern Gaza. He also called on Israel to suspend any legislation that could hamper the operations of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

Aid levels remain well below U.S. benchmarks. Access to northern Gaza remains restricted and Israel continues its efforts laws against UNRWA.

Israel launched a major offensive last month in the north, where Hamas militants are said to have regrouped. The operation killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands.

Little aid arrives in northern Gaza

Throughout October and the first days of November, Israel did not allow any food into the area, where tens of thousands of civilians remained despite evacuation orders.

Last week, Israel allowed 11 trucks to travel to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit towns in the north. But the World Food Organization said troops stationed at a checkpoint forced its trucks to unload their cargo before reaching shelters.

COGAT – the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian aid in Gaza – said on Tuesday that it had authorized a further delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun the day before. The WFP said that although it attempted to send 14 trucks, only three reached the town “due to delays in receiving movement permits and crowds along the road.” When he tried to deliver the remainder on Tuesday, Israel refused him permission, he said.

Aid for Gaza as a whole plummeted in October, when just 34,000 tonnes of food came in, just a third of the previous month, according to Israeli data.

UN agencies say that in reality, even fewer funds are reaching their destination due to Israeli restrictions, fighting and lawlessness that make it difficult to collect and distribute aid to the Gaza side.

In October, 57 trucks per day entered Gaza on average, and 75 per day so far in November, according to official Israeli figures. The UN says it has only received 39 trucks per day since the beginning of October.

COGAT said 900 aid trucks were not being picked up on the Gaza side, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south.

“Before organizations give grades, they should focus on distributing the aid that awaits them,” COGAT said in response to the humanitarian groups’ report.

Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for UNRWA, said the military was not coordinating the movements of aid trucks to reach the piled-up cargo. “If we don’t have a safe passage to collect them… they won’t get to the people who need them,” she said.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping around 250 people. Around a hundred hostages are still in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have died.

Israel’s bombings and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of them were militants but that more than half are women and children. About 90% of the 2.3 million residents have been displaced and hundreds of thousands of them are crammed into squalid tent camps, with little food, water or sanitation facilities.

The United States has Billions of dollars in military aid rushed to Israel during the war, while pressing it to allow more aid to Gaza.

Trump promised to end wars in the Middle East without saying how. Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since Trump won the White House last week.

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Frankel reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Wafaa Shurafa in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, and Colleen Long and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed.

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