Report
US threats about Israeli military aid seem increasingly empty
The latest massacre of the hungry came on the eve of the 30-day deadline the Biden administration had given as an ultimatum to the Israeli government.
On Nov. 12, northeast of Gaza City, the Israeli air force bombed a gathering of Palestinians who were waiting for humanitarian aid – 12 dead. This latest massacre of the hungry came on the eve of the 30-day deadline the Biden administration had given as an ultimatum to the Israeli government: military aid in exchange for humanitarian aid. That is, suspension of some arms deliveries if Tel Aviv did not increase the flow of incoming aid trucks.
The month had seemed like an eternity to those who have not received food and medicine for six weeks – and now that it has passed, there are still no incoming trucks to be seen. After the attack, many NGOs voiced their frustration. The Norwegian Refugee Council denounced Israel’s now-notorious practice of obstructing aid delivery: “they are obstructing aid from entering through the crossings” and sending aid back arbitrarily, Shaina Low, NRC’s communication adviser, told Al Jazeera. The UN Famine Review Committee said that never since October 7, 2023 had so little aid been allowed to enter Gaza.
“We used to get 700-800 trucks [per day] before September 2023,” Amjad Al Shawa, director of the Palestinian NGOs Network, told Al Jazeera, while now there are “30-40 at most.” Louise Wateridge from UNRWA confirmed: “The average in October was 37 trucks a day ... for 2.2 million people.”
The U.S. State Department announced in a memo on Tuesday that Washington had asked its ally to account for what it had done over the past 30 days in a meeting between Antony Blinken and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer on Monday. It’s not clear what Dermer had to report other than vague “steps to address the measures laid out in the letter” of mid-October. But on Tuesday, the U.S. responded by announcing it would not suspend arms deliveries after all, according to State Department spokesman Vedant Patel, because “we have not made an assessment that they are in violation of U.S. law.” The U.S. has seen “steps in the right direction” by Israel, he added. They seem to be the only ones.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, people continue to die from starvation and bombs. On Tuesday, six were killed in Deir al-Balah, among them two infants; several were wounded in a raid on a tent camp in Gaza City, at the Gaza Sports Club; eleven were killed in Rafah, and four more in Nuseirat. And then there was Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, targeted on Tuesday with great violence.
Under siege for six weeks, the population was ordered to evacuate to the south (women only, with instructions not to take anything with them, while the men were arrested by the dozens, according to journalists on the ground), but there was no time to do so: drones began to drop bombs immediately.
“Many buildings were hit and destroyed with people still inside,” said Al Jazeera reporter Hani Mahmoud. “They were not given enough time.” Similar images came from Beit Lahiya, also in the north. The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights spoke of repeated bombings causing mass slaughter in northern Gaza, mostly in residential buildings that housed many families, accusing the raids of disproportionately targeted women and the elderly, many trapped due to restrictions on movement and attacks on escape routes.
It is very likely that the death toll in the north is much higher than the current count, which brings the total tally for the past 13 months to over 43,600 killed and 10,000 missing. The Lebanese death toll is also growing: 3,287 since Oct. 8, 2023, with a shocking average in recent days of 40-50 killed daily, likely as a result of less global attention and Trump's recent victory in the U.S. presidential elections. Beirut was hit particularly hard on Tuesday, with 13 airstrikes in a matter of minutes – once again, just minutes after the Israeli army had issued warnings to evacuate to the inhabitants of 11 buildings.
People fled in terror as black smoke rose behind. The Israeli army also issued evacuation orders in the south for 14 Lebanese villages, located toward the Awali River, further and further north of the Litani River “border” stipulated in UN Resolution 1701. In Galilee, two Israelis were killed by Hezbollah rocket fire.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/gli-usa-si-rimangiano-la-minaccia-confermate-le-armi-per-le-guerre-di-israele on 2024-11-13