Israel fails to meet US aid demands to ease Gaza catastrophe, aid groups say
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Palestinians carrying an aid box distributed by the UN Relief and Works Agency in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Nov 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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GENEVA – International aid groups said that Israel had failed to meet a series of US demands intended to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by the Nov 12 deadline.
The US told its ally Israel in a letter on Oct 13
“Israel not only failed to meet the US 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,” a group of eight aid groups, including Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a 19-page report.
For more than a month, Israeli forces have been pushing deeper into north Gaza, surrounding hospitals and shelters and creating fresh waves of displacement in an operation they say is designed to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping there.
On Nov 8, global food security experts released a rare warning of imminent famine in parts of northern Gaza unless immediate steps were taken to ease the situation.
Israel said on Nov 11 it had met most of the US demands
Other measures, including the opening of a new crossing into Gaza, have been implemented.
“As part of the effort and commitment to increase the volume and routes of aid to the Gaza Strip, the ‘Kissufim’ Crossing was opened today,” the army said on Nov 12 in a joint statement with Cogat, the Israeli Defence Ministry agency responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military added that hundreds of food and water packages had been sent to parts of northern Gaza during a coordinated operation.
Washington has not yet commented on whether its conditions have been met. Last week, the US State Department said Israel had taken some measures to increase aid access to Gaza but had so far failed to significantly turn around the humanitarian situation. REUTERS
