Israel and US to establish channel for discussing incidents of IDF harm to civilians
Washington asked for new panel in letter that warned of potential arms embargo; US wanted first meeting by end of October but spokesperson says it won’t happen until early December
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
WASHINGTON — Israel has agreed to establish a new bilateral channel through which the US will be able to raise concerns regarding specific military incidents in which civilians have been harmed, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller announced Tuesday.
The establishment of the channel was one of over a dozen demands made by the US in a letter to Israel on October 13, warning Israel that failure to meet them risked a partial arms embargo.
Explaining the need for the new committee, the US stated in the letter that existing channels have been insufficient to address the number of cases in which Palestinian civilians have been killed amid Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The letter said that the US wanted the new channel to hold its first virtual meeting by the end of October. While Israel did not meet this deadline, Miller said during a press briefing that the new committee will convene for the first time at the beginning of December.
The purpose of the channel is to assist the State Department in past and future assessments of cases where US-provided weapons were potentially used by the Israel Defense Forces in strikes that harmed civilians. Such probes are ongoing, but the US wanted a formal mechanism set up to better secure answers to its questions on the matter, Miller said.
The US announced last week that while Israel did not fully meet some of the demands listed in the October 13 letter aimed at alleviating the Gaza humanitarian crisis, it made progress on enough of them to remain in compliance with US law, which bars the transfer of weapons to countries that block aid from civilians.
The decision came days after the election of Donald Trump, who would likely have reversed any US decision to withhold weapons from Israel.
In an effort to defend the administration’s stance from progressive critics, US officials have revealed in recent days the steps Israel has taken to boost humanitarian assistance entering Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has avoided publicly announcing many of these moves, which would likely draw criticism from its hardline supporters.
Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have opposed such measures to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, arguing that aid should be withheld in order to pressure Hamas to release the hostages.
Miller said on Monday that the Israeli security cabinet voted last week to increase the amount of aid entering Gaza to 250 trucks per day.
One of the letter’s demands was for Israel to increase the amount of aid to 350 trucks a day.
Miller said that Netanyahu instructed Defense Minister Israel Katz to make every effort to ensure that Israel meets the 350 truck benchmark.
Israel removed 30 items from its list of “dual-use items” that are banned from entering Gaza, as requested by the US in its letter to Israel, Miller said, adding that Israel additionally expanded the Muwasi humanitarian zone by 25%.
The IDF is also implementing a UN plan to prepare for winter, which includes repairing roads, facilitating the entry of specific aid and vaccinations for seasonal diseases, Miller continued.
Last week, Miller’s deputy Vedant Patel highlighted other Israeli decisions to reopen the Erez Crossing into northern Gaza, to open the Kissufim Crossing into central Gaza, the waiving of certain customs requirements for aid organizations, the opening of new aid delivery routes within Gaza, the resumption of aid delivery to northern Gaza after a near-monthlong siege and the institution of periodic humanitarian pauses.
However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken would later ask Israel to extend those pauses from hours to days so that humanitarian aid can be more effectively distributed throughout the Strip.
This was one of three steps that Blinken said Israel had fallen short on from the list of 15 demands that were included in the October 13 letter.
He also said Israel has yet to rescind evacuation orders after the IDF finishes operating in particular areas.
The army’s refusal to do so has led to major overcrowding in the Muwasi humanitarian zone and concerns that Israel is seeking to take over large swaths of Gaza territory.
Blinken said that Israel has also fallen short of the US demand to allow the entry of commercial goods into Gaza.
Blinken recognized that the entry of commercial trucks raises the risk of additional looting but said the US is working with Israel and Egypt to address the issue.
Miller argued Tuesday that looting of humanitarian aid convoys in Gaza cannot be fully addressed until a new Palestinian-led governing and security force replaces Hamas in the Strip, days after the UN reported the the worst such incident “in terms of volume” since the war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.
While the US and the international community have pushed for the Palestinian Authority to play this role, the idea has been rejected outright by Netanyahu, who has often likened the PA to Hamas.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that he has directed the IDF to come up with new solutions to ensure the safe distribution of aid, though Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel over the past year that the security establishment also feels that the PA is the only viable alternative to continued Hamas rule in Gaza.
The US has been careful not to say that Hamas is directly behind the aid looting, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that the terror group siphons off much of the aid coming in.
“Ultimately, you are not going to finally solve this problem without an end to the war and the establishment of a new governance and security authority inside Gaza,” Miller said, adding that the US also strongly opposes having Israel become the occupying power in Gaza.
