US gives Israel warning
WASHINGTON 鈥 The Biden administration warned Israel it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to U.S. weapons funding.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the changes must occur. The letter, which restates U.S. policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers, was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and an Israeli airstrike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza that killed at least four people and burned others.
A similar letter Blinken sent to Israeli officials in April led to more humanitarian assistance getting to the Palestinian territory, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday, but it didn鈥檛 last.
鈥淚n fact, it鈥檚 fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak,鈥 Miller said at a briefing. 鈥淪o the secretary, along with Secretary Austin, thought it was appropriate to make clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again, to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today.鈥
For Israel to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, the level of aid getting into Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks a day, Israel must institute additional humanitarian pauses and provide increased security for humanitarian sites, Austin and Blinken said in their letter. They said Israel had 30 days to respond.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, believes it won assurances from Israel that it will not hit Iranian nuclear or oil sites as it looks to strike back after Iran鈥檚 missile barrage this month, two U.S. officials said Tuesday.
However, the U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cautioned that Israel鈥檚 assurances are not ironclad. They also noted that Israel鈥檚 track record on fulfilling pledges in the past is mixed and often reflected domestic Israeli politics that upended Washington鈥檚 expectations.
Meanwhile, Naim Kassem, the acting leader of Hezbollah, said Tuesday the militant group is focused on 鈥渉urting the enemy,鈥 and he signaled it would ramp up attacks further south in Israel, mentioning the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa, which have already been targets of attacks.
A deadly Israeli airstrike in northern Lebanon 鈥 far from Hezbollah鈥檚 main area of influence in the south and east 鈥 killed at least 22 people Monday.