(Washington Post) Missy Ryan - In an Oct. 13 letter to senior Israeli officials which became public Tuesday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded urgent steps to ensure that civilians in Gaza have access to food and other necessities and gives the Israeli government one month to comply. An Israeli official said, "Israel takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised in this letter with our American counterparts." The Israeli military has denied that Israel has halted the entry or coordination of aid in northern Gaza and primarily blame Hamas and criminal gangs for the problems. The letter laid out specific criteria including ensuring the entry of at least 350 aid trucks a day into Gaza; putting in place humanitarian pauses to enable aid delivery; lifting evacuation orders when they are no longer needed; enabling aid shipments from Jordan; and halting the isolation of northern Gaza. It also called on Netanyahu to "ensure" that a measure before the Knesset which would ban all government contact with UNRWA "does not come to pass."
2024-10-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive