From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
Ministers approve steps to alleviate Gaza humanitarian crisis ahead of US deadline
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The security cabinet at a Sunday meeting approved a series of steps aimed at boosting the humanitarian situation in Gaza, ahead of the Wednesday deadline set by the US for Israel to address the crisis or risk a partial embargo on weapons from Washington, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel.
The US sent Israel a letter on October 13, warning that it had 30 days to take a list of steps or risk being out of compliance with US law, which bars the transfer of offensive weapons to countries that block access to humanitarian aid.
Among the steps demanded by the US was for Israel to increase the amount of aid going into Gaza to 350 trucks per day. That number has been well under 100 on average for the past several months.
Among the list of measures approved by the security cabinet on Sunday is an unspecified increase to the amount of aid entering the Strip, but an Israeli official tells Axios that Israel won’t be able to meet the 350 truck benchmark set by the US.
Another measure approved by the cabinet is the inland expansion of the Muwasi coastal humanitarian zone, which the IDF already started widening in recent weeks.
The ministers also agreed that Israel will send a written commitment that it is not seeking to forcibly deport Gazans from combat zones, Channel 13 reports. This appears to be in response to a US demand in its letter that Israel clarify that it is not seeking to “isolate northern Gaza,” through the implementation of the so-called General’s Plan.
The plan envisions the IDF laying siege to northern Gaza in order to prevent the resurgence of Hamas, and the IDF has insisted it is not carrying it out. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly do the same, but the premier declined to do so amid pressure from his far-right coalition partners, a US official told The Times of Israel last month.
It is unclear if the written commitment described by Channel 13 will suffice what the US was seeking from Israel.
The US letter made a separate, seemingly lower-tier request for Israel to allow the Red Cross to visit Palestinian security prisoners amid mounting reports of abuse in Israeli prisons.
Channel 13 reports that this request was denied by the security cabinet. Hamas has refused to allow the Red Cross to visit the remaining 101 hostages in Gaza.
Ministers during the security cabinet meeting pressed Netanyahu on why these measures were necessary, given that US President Joe Biden is on his way out and that Trump is unlikely to implement any sort of arms embargo against Israel, especially on his first days in office.
Netanyahu responded that Biden still can take steps against Israel in his final two-plus months in office and that boosting the Gaza humanitarian situation would be important in mitigating such moves, Channel 13 says.
A US official tells The Times of Israel that Israel has met some of the demands that the administration made in its letter but has fallen well short of others thus far.
