US says aid not reaching Palestinians in northern Gaza’s Jabalia

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says humanitarian assistance is not reaching Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza neighborhood of Jabalia.

The IDF has been operating in Jabalia and several other surrounding towns in order to thwart what it says has been a resurgence of Hamas activity. The operations have featured mass evacuations of Palestinians and an initial two weeks during which aid was blocked from reaching northern Gaza.

This led to international alarm that Israel was implementing the so-called General’s Plan to lay siege to northern Gaza. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly clarify that this is not Israel’s policy. While the premier assured him that it was not, he declined to make such a public statement, a US official told The Times of Israel.

Miller notes the assurance received by Netanyahu, adding that the US is following the matter closely and has seen some improvements in the amount of aid reaching northern Gaza over the past two weeks.

But Jabalia, in particular, continues to not receive aid, Miller says. “We don’t accept that… and we want to see that change.”

The State Department spokesperson notes that Israel will have to address such issue if it wants to remain in compliance with US law regarding receipt of US offensive weapons.

The issue was raised in a letter that the US sent Israel on October 13, warning that it had 30 days to take a series of steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“At this point, they’re not meeting all the conditions of the letter,” Miller says.

One of the issues raised in the letter was then-pending Knesset legislation to bar UNRWA from operating in Israel. While the US cautioned against the move, the bill was passed hours after Miller’s press briefing.