The State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel repeatedly declined on Tuesday, after being pressed by reporters, to say if the criteria mentioned in the American letter had been met
The State Department announced on Tuesday that it has concluded that Israel is not hindering humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip and thus Tel Aviv is not breaching US law, Reuters news agency reported.
The declaration came on the day of a deadline previously set by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a letter on October 13 for Israel to implement a set of steps within 30 days to attend to the dire humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The letter had warned that “failure to do so may have possible consequences on U.S. military aid to Israel.”
The US administration’s denial that Israel is impeding aid entry to the besieged enclave also coincided with a scorecard issued by eight aid organizations indicating that Israel has indeed failed to comply with a number of requirements.
The State Department Deputy Spokesperson, Vedant Patel repeatedly declined on Tuesday, after being pressed by reporters, to say if the criteria mentioned in the American letter had been met, Reuters said.
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He nonetheless claimed that Israel had taken measures to meet the requirements set by the US.
“We’ve seen some progress being made. We would like to see some more changes happen. We believe that had it not been for U.S. intervention, these changes may not have ever taken place,” Patel said.
Patel also refused to address questions by reporters on why the US has built its conclusion based on Israeli measures rather than outcomes on the ground taken they have previously stated that this would be their yardstick.
‘Gaza Scorecard’
The ‘Gaza scorecard’ issued by eight humanitarian organizations on Tuesday indicated that Israel failed to comply with a number of requirements including the allowance of a minimum of 350 trucks per day to enter Gaza.
Israel has failed to meet the US government’s deadline to take concrete measures to reverse the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, the aid organizations said.
The scorecard issued concluded that “Israel has failed to comply with its ally’s demands – at enormous human cost for Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” a statement issued by the eight groups on Tuesday said.
“The facts are clear,” the statement said, “the humanitarian situation in Gaza is now at its worst point since the war began in October 2023.”
‘Gaza Scorecard’ – Israel Failed to Meet US Deadline on Deteriorating Situation
The scorecard was compiled by Anera, CARE International, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Oxfam, Refugees International, and Save the Children.
“This new analysis clearly demonstrates that the Israeli government is violating its obligations under U.S. and international law to facilitate humanitarian relief for suffering Palestinians in Gaza,” said Refugees International president and former senior USAID official Jeremy Konyndyk.
“With experts again projecting imminent famine in north Gaza, there is no time to lose. The United States must impose immediate restrictions on security cooperation with Israel as required under Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act,” he added.
Genocide Continues
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 43,552 Palestinians have been killed, and 102,765 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
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Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
