Israel has missed US deadline to boost Gaza aid, UN agency says

A recent report from the United Nations has indicated that Israel has not met a crucial deadline set by the United States to increase the flow of aid into Gaza. This situation poses a risk of the US reducing its military assistance to Israel. Last month, the US Secretary of State sent a strongly worded letter to Israel, giving them a 30-day ultimatum to ensure that more aid trucks were reaching Gaza on a daily basis. This deadline is set to expire soon. According to the UN, the amount of aid entering Gaza is currently at its lowest level in a year. A report backed by the UN has raised alarms about the imminent risk of famine in northern Gaza, where aid has been scarce over the past month. Israel, on the other hand, claims that it has significantly increased the amount of aid being sent to Gaza and accuses aid organizations of not distributing the supplies effectively. In the letter dated October 13, the US requested that Israel ensure a daily influx of aid trucks into Gaza by November 12. However, when Louise Wateridge, the Senior Emergency Coordinator for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), was asked if Israel had done enough to comply with the US demands, she responded with a blunt 'No. ' She emphasized that there is a severe shortage of aid and supplies, stating, 'People are starving in some areas. People are very hungry. They are fighting over bags of flour. There are just not enough supplies. ' Footage captured by a local journalist in Gaza showed a bakery where people were desperately trying to obtain bread. The price of bread has skyrocketed over the past year, leading to chaotic scenes outside the bakery as hundreds of people scrambled to get their share. Among them was a grandmother named Aida al-Horan, who was also trying to collect soup. She expressed her desperation, saying, 'If it were not for the soup kitchen, we would have starved to death. ' Aida described her daily struggle to access food, stating, 'Every day it’s the same struggle. I go back and forth to the soup kitchen. ' Israel asserts that it has opened more crossings to facilitate the delivery of aid into Gaza. The Israeli military announced the opening of a new crossing called Kissufim, which is located towards the south. A spokesperson for Cogat, the Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian affairs in Gaza, stated that 'most aspects of Blinken’s demands have been met and those which have not are being discussed. ' They also mentioned that some US demands were already being addressed. I visited Zikim, which is one of the crossings that have been reopened by Israel in recent weeks. During a photocall arranged by the Israeli military, I witnessed around eight aid trucks passing into Gaza, loaded with essential supplies such as flour, rice, and toilet paper. While aid is indeed entering Gaza, it is still far from sufficient. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) reported that the average number of trucks entering Gaza over the past month is just over 40 per day. Israel disputes these figures and blames the UN for not effectively delivering aid. They claim that hundreds of pallets of supplies are waiting to be collected by aid organizations on the Gaza side of the border, and that some aid trucks are being looted by armed individuals. The UN, however, rejects this assertion, stating that it is Israel's responsibility as the occupying power to ensure the safe passage of aid into Gaza. They emphasize that they cannot distribute aid if Israel's military operations make it too dangerous. For more than a year, Israel has crossed many of the red lines set by the US. Much of the destruction and loss of life has been attributed to US weapons provided to Israel to assist in the fight against Hamas following the attack on October 7, 2023. With over 43,000 Palestinian lives lost, it seems unlikely that the Biden administration will take a strong stance and cut off arms supplies to Israel.