Aid groups say Israel fails to comply with US aid access demands in Gaza

JERUSALEM

Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organizations said on Nov. 12.

The Biden administration last month set a deadline expiring on Nov. 12 for Israel to “surge” more food and other emergency aid into the Palestinian territory. The administration warned that failure to comply could trigger U.S. laws requiring it to scale back military support as Israel wages offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

"Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza," the group of eight organizations, including OXFAM, Save the Children and Norwegian Refugee Council, said in 19-page report.

"That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago," they lamented.

"Conditions are worst in Gaza’s north, where Israel launched a major operation in October that has cut off humanitarian aid to the area."

They cited the Inter-Agency Standing Committee's recent assessment, which stated that "the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine, and violence."

"Israel should be held accountable for the end result of failing to ensure the adequate provision of food, medical, and other supplies to reach people in need," they urged.

Louise Wateridge, UNRWA's senior emergency officer in Gaza, briefed reporters in Geneva from central Gaza, saying the volume of aid currently entering the besieged enclave is "the lowest in months," while access to the north is becoming almost "impossible" as no UNRWA personnel have been able to access it in over a month.

When asked about the deadline set last month by the U.S. for Israel to improve the aid situation in the enclave, the UNRWA official said, instead, "aid supplies have lessened."

"Anything that happens now is already too late," she said, adding that thousands and thousands of people have been already killed "senselessly" because of lack of aid, bombings and being trapped under rubble.

Israel has announced a series of steps — though their effect was unclear. On Nov. 12, it opened a new crossing in central Gaza, outside the city of Deir al-Balah for aid to enter. It also announced a small expansion of its coastal “humanitarian zone,” where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in tent camps. It connected electricity for a desalination plant in Deir al Balah.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress but needs to do more. Still U.S. officials haven’t said whether they will take any action.

Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Nov. 11 that he was confident “the issue would be solved.” The Biden administration may have less leverage after the reelection of Donald Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.

Israeli airstrike kills, injures several Palestinians waiting for food aid

Israeli forces on Tuesday evening carried out another horrific airstrike on a residential building near coastline of Gaza City, where several Palestinians were waiting for food.

This attack comes as the besieged enclave's food crisis worsens, with most areas experiencing severe food shortages and high prices following Israeli restrictions on aid access.

Witnesses told state-run Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army hit a residential building where several aid recipients were waiting near the Al Qahira Hall on the northern Gaza City coast, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.

Some of the wounded and dead remained on the scene, while others were transported to the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City for treatment, the witnesses added.

Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in October 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 43,700 people have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and over 103,000 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.