The U.S. Will Not Prevent Arms Transfers to Israel Despite Increased Aid to Gaza

The Biden administration stated that the process of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip has seen limited but positive progress, and accordingly, contrary to last month's threat, it will not prevent military weapon transfers to Israel. Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, told reporters on Tuesday, November 22, that the progress made so far must continue, and 'our analysis and assessment to date has not been that the Israelis are violating U.S. laws.' According to U.S. laws, countries receiving U.S. military aid must adhere to international humanitarian laws and must not obstruct humanitarian assistance to populations in need. Mr. Patel emphasized, 'We do not give Israel a passing grade, and Israel's actions have not yet made a significant enough difference.' He added, 'We want to see an overall improvement in humanitarian conditions [in Gaza] and believe that some of these actions create conditions for continued progress.' This decision by the U.S. government comes as international aid organizations report that Israel has not yet met Washington's request to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and access to the area. Experts have also warned that Palestinian refugees in northern Gaza are likely already experiencing famine. Last month, the Biden administration set a one-month deadline for Israel to facilitate an increase in the delivery of food and other humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip or face the potential risk of losing U.S. military support. This deadline expired on Tuesday. There are many obstacles to distributing aid in the Gaza Strip, some of which became evident this week. Even though the Israeli army allowed aid to be sent to northern Gaza after a month, the United Nations stated that due to unrest and restrictions imposed by the presence of Israeli forces, it could not distribute this aid.