Israel lists its humanitarian efforts in past six months
11/11/2024 6:03
The United States this week
will decide whether Israel has made progress toward improving
the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and how Washington
will respond, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on
Sunday as Israel began to make its case.
President Joe Biden's administration told Israel in an Oct. 13
letter signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense
Secretary Lloyd Austin that the longtime U.S. ally must take
steps within 30 days on a series of measures or risk
restrictions on American military aid.
"This week we will make our judgments about what kind of
progress they have made," Sullivan told the CBS program "Face
the Nation." "And then Secretary Austin, Secretary Blinken, the
president will make judgments about what we do in response, and
I'm not going to get ahead of that."
COGAT, the Israeli military agency that deals with
Palestinian civilian affairs, on Sunday published a list of
Israel's humanitarian efforts over the past six months,
"highlighting recent initiatives and detailing plans to sustain
support for Gaza as winter approaches."
"Through expanded routes, medical assistance, infrastructure
improvements and coordination with international partners, COGAT
continues to facilitate the implementation of humanitarian
efforts that are meant to help the civilian population
in the Gaza Strip," the agency said.
The U.S. deadline is set to expire just days after global food
security experts said there is a "strong likelihood that famine
is imminent in areas" of northern Gaza as Israel pursues a
military offensive against Hamas Palestinian militants there.
Israel began its wide military push in northern Gaza last month.
The United States has said it is watching to ensure that
Israel's actions on the ground show that Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's government does not have a "policy of starvation" in
the north.
COGAT on Saturday pushed back against the rare alert by the
independent Famine Review Committee, which reviews findings by
the internationally recognized standard known as the Integrated
Food Security Phase Classification.
The Israeli agency said that "all projections by the IPC
have proven incorrect and inconsistent with the situation on the
ground" and that Israel's military "operates and will continue
to operate in accordance with international law to facilitate
and ease the transfer of humanitarian aid to Gaza."
COGAT also said Friday that it is preparing to open another
crossing - at Kissufim - into Gaza.
The amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest
level in a year, according to U.N. data, and the U.N. has
accused Israel of hindering and blocking attempts to deliver
aid, particularly to Gaza's north.
In response to the famine warning, the head of the U.N.
Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, accused
Israel of using hunger as a weapon.
"This deprives people in Gaza of the basics including food
to survive," Lazzarini wrote in a social media post on Saturday.
"What is being allowed into Gaza is not enough, an average of
just over 30 trucks (a) day. This is just over six percent of
the daily needs."
Israel's U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon last month told the
Security Council that the issue in Gaza was not a lack of aid,
saying more than a million tons had been delivered during the
past year. He accused Hamas of hijacking the assistance.
Hamas has denied Israeli allegations that it was stealing
aid and has blamed Israel for shortages.
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