The United States said Tuesday, November 12, that Israel was not violating US law on the level of aid entering Gaza, even as aid agencies said it was still not enough. Israel had announced the opening of an additional aid crossing into Gaza, just hours before the deadline set by outgoing President Joe Biden's administration to improve the humanitarian conditions in Gaza or risk a cut to military assistance.
Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin sent a letter to Israel setting a deadline of November 13 to comply with US law on permitting humanitarian assistance. Asked if Israel had met the demands, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said: "We have not made an assessment that they are in violation of US law. The overall humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to be unsatisfactory. But in the context of the letter, it's not about whether we find something satisfactory or not; it's what are the actions that we're seeing." "These actions that we have seen, we think that these are steps in the right direction," he said.
The US finding comes despite Israel not meeting a series of metrics set explicitly in the letter, including allowing a minimum of 350 trucks per day into Gaza. Patel said the administration was "constantly assessing and evaluating" even after the deadline. But it has only about nine weeks left in office before president-elect Donald Trump moves into the Oval Office.
On the eve of the deadline, Israel's military said it opened the Kissufim crossing "as part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid." However, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and eight humanitarian groups said Israel was still not doing enough. The eight organisations including Oxfam and Save The Children said: "The humanitarian situation in Gaza is now at its worst point since the war began in October 2023."
A top UN official on Tuesday condemned the "daily cruelty" in Gaza. "What distinction was made, and what precautions were taken, if more than 70 percent of civilian housing is either damaged or destroyed?" Joyce Msuya, interim chief of the OCHA humanitarian agency, told the UN Security Council. "We are witnessing acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes."
Asked about whether there were signs the situation had improved ahead of the US deadline, Louise Wateridge, an UNRWA emergencies officer, said: "aid entering the Gaza Strip is at its lowest level in months."