US says Israel not found in violation of law on Gaza aid

WASHINGTON: The US said Tuesday that Israel was not violating US law on the level of aid entering Gaza but called for further progress, a month after outgoing president Joe Biden’s administration threatened to withhold some military support.

Secretary of state Antony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter last month to Israel voicing alarm over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and setting a deadline of Nov 13 to comply with US law on permitting humanitarian assistance.

Asked if Israel had met the demands, state department spokesman Vedant Patel said of Israel, “We have not made an assessment that they are in violation of US law.”

Ron Dermer, a top advisor to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, personally updated Blinken on Israel’s efforts in a meeting Monday in Washington, the state department said.

“The overall humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be unsatisfactory,” Patel said.

“But 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 finding comes despite Israel not meeting a series of metrics set explicitly in the letter, including allowing a minimum of 350 trucks per day into Gaza.

Patel said that the US has seen “some progress” on allowing in assistance, including the opening of new crossings into Gaza.

“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.

The administration, however, has only about nine weeks left in office and president-elect Donald Trump has promised to give freer rein to Israel.

Biden has repeatedly voiced alarm over Israeli treatment of civilians but has also mostly declined to exercise US leverage by stopping the flow of weapons.