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Soon they won’t have the power for such games, nor permission to play them, but in the meantime they’re milking it for all they’re worth. [IsraelTimes] US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel appears to confirm a report that Joe Biden’s administration will not, for now, withhold weapons shipments to Israel, amid today’s deadline it put in place for Jerusalem to take a series of steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Patel acknowledges during a press briefing that Israel addressed some, but not all, of the measures demanded by the US in the letter, which gave Jerusalem 30 days to improve the humanitarian crisis or risk being deemed out of compliance with US law that bars offensive weapons from being transferred to countries that block aid from reaching civilians.
Nonetheless, he states that the US has not, at this time, “made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of US law.”
Patel points to steps taken by Israel over the past 30 days, including the reopening of the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza, the opening of the Kissufim Crossing into central Gaza, the waiving of certain customs requirements for aid organizations, the opening of new aid delivery routes within Gaza, the resumption of aid delivery to northern Gaza after a near-monthlong siege, the inland expansion of the coastal Mawasi humanitarian zone, and the institution of periodic humanitarian pauses.
The State Department spokesperson stresses that the US will continue monitoring Israel’s compliance with US law and will act accordingly if it deems that Jerusalem has failed to do so.
The US said it wanted to see 350 trucks enter Gaza every day. The average number of aid trucks that entered Gaza in October was 37, and Patel admits that only 404 trucks crossed into Gaza between November 1 and November 9.
| More from the Times of Israel here, reporting how the Biden-Harris administration only didn’t go through with it because Donald Trump won, and listing the complaining charities: |
The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.
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