A private letter from Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin to Benjamin Netanyahu gives Israel 30 days to act
The Guardian | Robert Tait | 16 October 2024
The Biden administration has warned Israel that it faces possible punishment, including the potential stopping of US weapons transfers, if it does not take immediate action to let more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
A letter written jointly by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, exhorts Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to ease humanitarian suffering in the territory by lifting restrictions on the entry of assistance within 30 days or face unspecified policy “implications”.
The four-page missive, dated 13 October, was sent to Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, and Ron Dermer, the strategic affairs minister, and came to light after being posted on social media by Barak Ravid, an Israeli journalist who works for Axios, after apparently being leaked.
Its authenticity was confirmed by a state department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, at a news briefing on Tuesday.
Humanitarian groups have made repeated calls for increased deliveries of food and medicine to Gaza, but aid shipments to the embattled territory are currently at their lowest level in months, the UN said last week.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/15/us-israel-weapons-gaza-aid-letter