A month ago, the US government called on Israel to do significantly more within 30 days to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or the US could be forced to limit its military support. The reason is that the number of aid deliveries has decreased by 50 percent since March.
Specifically, the USA is demanding, among other things, that at least 350 trucks carrying aid deliveries reach Gaza every day. Another condition for the continuation of military aid: the lifting of evacuation orders for Palestinian civilians. Israel has not complied with any of these demands by the deadline of November 12th.
Aid organizations speak of “apocalyptic conditions”
Recently, an average of 42 trucks drove into the coastal strip, aid organizations report. “The people of Gaza are starving,” said a joint report from eight organizations, including Oxfam and Care. They speak of “apocalyptic conditions.”
Nevertheless, the US government is waiving the threatened consequences, the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday evening. Aid and human rights organizations criticize the fact that the USA has been calling for more aid for Gaza for a year without the situation having improved significantly and that Washington is not taking any action when civilians die there. According to Palestinian figures, more than 43,000 people have been killed by Israel so far. According to UN estimates, 70 percent of these victims are children and women.
Below is a selection of President Joe Biden's demands on Israel.
October 18, 2023: “The lives of the civilian population must be protected and those in need must receive urgent help.”
October 29: In a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden calls for a “significant and immediate” increase in humanitarian aid for the civilian population. “Israel must do everything in its power to protect innocent civilians, however difficult that may be.”
11/11: Biden calls on Israel to come up with an “actionable plan to ensure the safety of the more than one million refugees.”
12/7: Biden sees “the urgent need to protect civilians.”
12/12: Biden says Israel has “every right” to defend itself against Hamas. “But they are starting to lose support because of the indiscriminate bombing.”
“Many innocent people are dying. It has to stop.”
February 8, 2024: “I pushed really hard – really hard – to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza,” asserts the US President. “Many innocent people are starving. Many innocent people die. It has to stop.”
3/1: “The aid flowing to Gaza is far from enough,” Biden says. There are now “no excuses” anymore.
3/9: “Israel must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost as a result of the measures taken.”
4/2: “I am outraged and heartbroken by the deaths of seven World Central Kitchen humanitarian workers, including an American, in Gaza yesterday. What’s even more tragic is that this is not an isolated case,” criticizes Biden. “This conflict is one of the worst in recent memory in terms of the number of aid workers killed. This is one of the main reasons why distributing humanitarian aid in Gaza has been so difficult – because Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers.”
4/3: “Israel has not done enough to protect aid workers trying to provide much-needed aid to civilians.”
April 4: US President Joe Biden calls on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take concrete steps to reduce the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip. In a phone call, he also warned that future US policy regarding the Gaza Strip depends on how Israel implements these measures.
The president criticizes the use of certain bombs, but the USA continues to supply them
4/10: “So what I'm demanding is that the Israelis are now ready for a ceasefire to allow full access to all food and medicine for the next six, eight weeks.”
April 28: In a telephone conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu, the US President urges expanding aid to Gaza.
5/9: Biden announces he will reconsider the delivery of so-called 2,000-pound bombs. If Israel's soldiers “go to Rafah, I will not supply weapons,” he says. There are around a million refugees there at this point. Israel still attacks the city in southern Gaza. A little later, Congress approved another arms shipment. A US government spokesman says there is “no mathematical formula” for when a red line is crossed.
May 25: Since Israel continues to not allow sufficient humanitarian aid, the USA is building a landing pier through which food will be brought to Gaza from Cyprus. Biden praises the construction “in record time” that “will bring life-saving help.” A few weeks later, the pier was decommissioned after several storm damages.
7/11: “Looking back, I would have liked to convince the Israelis of a lot of things,” Biden says.
7/15: “By the way, I'm the guy who has done more for the Palestinian community than anyone else,” Biden says in a radio interview.
Since October 7, Israel has received $17.9 billion in US arms aid
9/3: The president criticizes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not doing enough to reach a hostage deal and a ceasefire with Hamas, which could also bring more aid to Gaza.
10/13 The US sends a letter to the Israeli government demanding more aid for Gaza. Otherwise, arms deliveries could be stopped. Section 620I of the US Foreign Assistance Act requires the US to stop providing security assistance to governments that restrict US humanitarian assistance.
November 5th: “To date, the situation has not changed significantly,” says the US State Department spokesman. “When you look at the recommendations set out in the letter, it is clear that they have not been met.”
November 12th: The US government lets the self-imposed ultimatum pass without consequences.
According to calculations by Brown University in Providence, Israel has received $17.9 billion in US arms aid since October 7th.
