More than a month ago, through a letter, the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken; and that of Defense, Lloyd Austin told their Israeli counterparts that their country must comply with the obligations stipulated under international humanitarian law.
In addition, they specified that the United States has the legal obligation to guarantee that the humanitarian assistance sent by them is not hindered, diverted or delayed by a recipient of US military aid, in this case Israel.
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In the letter, USA He specified that yes Israel wants to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, The level of aid reaching Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks per day through the four main crossings, establish additional humanitarian pauses and provide greater security to humanitarian sites.
When the letter became known, the UN website that tracks aid deliveries in Gaza reported that some 80 food trucks had entered the enclave since October 1, compared to the 60 that previously entered daily.
Government figures Israel indicate that an average of 57 trucks a day entered Gaza in October and 75 daily so far in November. However, The UN maintains that it has only received 39 trucks a day since the beginning of October. None of these figures come close to the goal demanded by the United States.
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Furthermore, in the north of Gazawhere the Israeli army has been carrying out a major offensive since the beginning of October, the situation is shocking: according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), No aid has entered the Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas in the last month.
“All attempts by the UN to access the besieged areas of northern Gaza with food and health supplies this month were denied or prevented”OCHA reported in a statement on Tuesday.
OCHA added that “In October, the amount of aid entering Gaza was the lowest this year.”
“Israel has failed to meet its ally’s demands, at enormous human cost to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.””, The organizations Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children stated in a joint report.
However, the government of the president Joe Biden declared on Tuesday that Israel has made some progress, albeit limited, in increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and that, therefore, will not limit arms transfers to Israel.
“Israel has taken steps over the past few months, but talks continue because we need more, we certainly need more aid to come to Gaza. There is still work to do, but we have certainly seen some improvements.”said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
Besides…
Vital US military assistance to Israel
Since the start of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, after a bloody Hamas attack on Israeli territory, the United States has spent a record amount of at least $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel.
US aid allowed Israel to purchase billions of dollars worth of ammunition, the same ones that have been used in its operations against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. However, many of those attacks have also killed civilians in both places.
“US support for Israel is unconditional”
World public opinion must be wondering why USAnow that the electoral situation has passed in the country, does not put more pressure on Israel for the end of the war in Gaza, and on the contrary, back down on the ultimatum what he gave regarding the humanitarian aid.
Carlos Novoa Shuña, journalist specialized in Middle Easthe said to The Commerce It should not be forgotten that in the United States Democrats and Republicans have some differences, more in form than substance, but the country’s support for Israel is unconditional. He added that this has to do not only with the existence of Israel, but also with a position of both parties that is non-negotiable with respect to its greatest ally in the Middle East.
“There is $4 billion in military assistance each year, that has not decreased since the October 7 attacks, rather it has increased. There has been an increase in US troops in the region, there has been a delivery of weapons, support with moneyextraordinary aid was approved last year for 14,000 million dollars in military matters, according to research by Ignacio Álvarez Osorio. There has been non-negotiable support for 50 years, They have a very strong lobby which is AIPACwhose tentacles reach all the centers of power in the United States”Novoa noted.
“So, it is not that the situation is going to change dramatically, it is more than anything how they are going to be asked. “Joe Biden can demand many things and Benjamin Netanyahu will say whether he applies them or not, even more so knowing that the Biden government has an expiration date and that starting January 20 there will be a change in the United States.”Novoa said.
As for what will happen once Donald Trump assume power in the United States, Novoa considered that, evidently, the situation is going to favor Netanyahu because there will not be a great questioning of the delicate and very serious policies that it is applying in Gaza.
“If Biden could make some noise, with Trump in power that is not going to happen. The reason why it is not going to happen is because Israel is developing its project to cut off the Gaza Strip in a northern area, which is a kind of liberated zone, without allowing people to live or develop in the north of the strip. a society, but everyone will be concentrated in the south. And this has been considered by the Haaretz newspaper itself, which is a progressive Israeli media and critical of Netanyahu, as an ethnic cleansing”Novoa indicated.
“It is a quite complicated issue and it is what is coming, more than attitudes of confrontation, of war, conflict, guerrilla war with some lingers of Hamas. The problem is that Hamas is quite deteriorated here, but more than a million people still live in the Gaza Strip… And Donald Trump is going to support what Netanyahu does, and that is what is difficult. Suddenly with the Democrats there would not be such explicit support, no matter how much they accept that measure.”Novoa stated.
MSF recounts the terrible conditions and incessant attacks in Jabalia
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The organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) described the critical situation in the north of Gaza since early October, when Israel sent troops for a new operation against Hamas.
After a month of siege and systematic attacks, 10 MSF staff and their families were able to escape from the refugee camp in Jabalia.
Some of the MSF workers have been injured, while one was killed on October 10. Two have not yet managed to escape.
According to MSF, The area was home to 175,000 people before the ground invasion, but is now being emptied of Palestinian life.. Residents have no choice but to put their lives at risk to flee.
“In Gaza City, the streets are full of displaced people. Many come to the clinic to treat their burns and wounds with bandages and to receive physical therapy. Cases at our clinic have more than doubled in recent weeks. “The medical needs are massive.”explained Mohammad Wadi, an MSF worker.
The three hospitals that operate in the north of Gaza They have been attacked and their staff detained by Israeli forces, MSF said.
“People in northern Gaza face inhumane conditionswithout access to food, water or medical care. MSF calls on Israel to immediately stop forced displacement, facilitate humanitarian aid in northern Gaza and end the indiscriminate killing throughout the Strip.stated the organization.
Jamal, an MSF worker, was trapped in Jabalia and that he was finally able to flee to Gaza City, he tells what he experienced:
“I don’t know how to describe the feeling, even now, the fear is still there. It’s very scary, I mean, I never expected to go through this. The objective was: how do I escape? I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. I went to the Yemeni Hospital, I was there for two days. On the third day, the Israeli Army arrived. They bombed around the building. We heard a megaphone warning us to evacuate the area to the south, to the south. When we left, the Israeli Army was there, around. They allowed people to enter in groups; groups of five people. They scanned our faces, took photos, detained the people they wanted. My father was with me, so getting out of there was very difficult because he is in a wheelchair. Nobody could help me. The roads were destroyed. It was difficult to push a wheelchair, with an older man. I wanted to carry him on my shoulders, but I couldn’t. After four hours of waiting, we were finally able to pass the checkpoint. After inspection, we took an animal-drawn cart south to Gaza City,” Jamal said.
2,000 people have died and 6,000 were injured
since Israel launched its new offensive in northern Gaza at the beginning of October, the Government of the Palestinian enclave reported on Wednesday.
Another MSF worker who fled Jabalia to Gaza City he narrated his escape under the condition of anonymity:
“The story began on October 6. We could hear the shelling around the house, but I didn’t know it was going to be a ground invasion. We used to go downstairs if there was heavy bombing, so the children could sleep. At night we didn’t sleep, we waited for the sun to rise. Little by little, we prepare to flee. We didn’t know where to go, there were no cars or carts. I was taking refuge around the Yemeni Hospital, not inside. There were attacks that affected the hospital. The projectiles hit the hospital door and the street. The drones bombed the houses around us, the children cried. The bombardment increased and we left. While we were fleeing we saw people being attacked in the street. There was blood in the street, and the remains of young bodies. It was a situation that I honestly don’t want to remember. We arrived at the Indonesian Hospital and there we found Israeli soldiers who ordered us to head south, towards the Kuwait roundabout. We arrived at the roundabout and they separated us; women, and children in one area; and men in a school. They took my husband, my uncle and my cousin. We walked again and came to a large pit made of sandbags, where the Israeli forces made us wait. We sat for two hours in the sun. They asked us to walk towards Al Mawasi in Khan Younis, but no one could. We walked and rested a little. The road was full of tanks. We continue to lighten our load; I couldn’t even carry my baby’s formula. After all, we arrived in Gaza City.”