The US opted not to withhold weapons from Israel after the Jewish state sent a letter agreeing to improve humanitarian aid in Gaza and promising not to displace or starve Palestinians, according to a new report.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gave Israel until Nov. 13 to improve the humanitarian crisis in northern Gaza or risk losing American military aid, with Israel giving the officials a clear assurance when the deadline hit, Axios reported.
The letter, made public Wednesday, also included a promise that Israel would not employ a tactic of evacuating northern Gaza and cutting off aid in hopes of starving out Hamas, which had been floated around by military officials but widely condemned over the potential risk to civilians.
“Israel affirms that it has no policy of forced evacuation of civilians from anywhere in the Gaza Strip, including northern Gaza,” the letter stated.
“No civilian is forced to leave, and the population that chooses to remain in these areas is taken into consideration in the operational planning, including the facilitation of humanitarian assistance.”
The letter outlined a clear plan for Israel to flood Gaza with more aid and expand the current humanitarian zones, as well as the Jewish state’s willingness for more humanitarian cease-fires.
Two Biden administration officials told Axios that Israel would not have taken these steps if the US had not threatened to halt its weapons supplies.
The Jewish state appears to be adhering to its promises by meeting with one of Blinken and Austin’s demands of facilitating aid transfers from neighboring Jordan, a key ally in the region.
Israel’s civilian coordination agency for the Palestinians (COGAT), confirmed that 7 tons of humanitarian aid was delivered to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday via eight Jordanian Air Force helicopters, a first since the war began.
“The delivery via Crossing 147 comprised of 720 packages weighing a total of 7,200 kilograms, that included hygiene and sanitation supplies, food, baby formula, and medical equipment, and 30 different types of medications,” the agency said in a statement.
The number of aid trucks entering Gaza have also increased to 200 per day during the first two weeks of November, according to Israeli officials, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet ordering it to reach at least 250 a day.
While it represents a drastic increase from the dozens that were entering Gaza daily in the summer, it still fails to meet the minimum the US set at 350 trucks a day.
Israel has also yet to confirm how much aid is actually reaching northern Gaza, where the fighting continues to be the most intense as Israeli troops fight Hamas’ re-emerging forces.