US President Joe Biden’s administration wrote a letter to the Israeli government demanding action on the humanitarian situation in Gaza because aid has “fallen by over 50% from where it was at its peak,” according to the State Department.
Biden’s administration demanded the Israeli government improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days or risk violating US laws governing foreign military assistance, suggesting US military aid could be in jeopardy.
The Israeli government is reviewing the administration’s letter, saying it “takes this matter seriously and intends to address the concerns raised,” CNN analyst Barak Ravid and Reuters reported.
Here are the latest developments:
“War crime”: The UN has warned that Israel is effectively sealing off northern Gaza and may be carrying out a “large-scale forced transfer” of civilians, which it said would amount to a war crime. For more than a week, the Israeli military has been carrying out an intense offensive in the north of the Palestinian enclave and has blocked all food from entering northern Gaza since the beginning of the month, according to the World Food Programme.
Humanitarian crisis worsens: Hospitals in Gaza are left barely functioning as Israel continues its bombardment of the strip. Israeli forces left Nasser Hospital “non-functional and severely damaged, with no food, water, electricity, food or oxygen,” according to the nongovernmental organization Medical Aid for Palestinians. The Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza’s Jabalya refugee camp is currently running out of vital supplies, according to its director.
Israel will target Iran military sites: Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have told the United States that a counterstrike on Iran will be limited to military targets rather than oil or nuclear facilities, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
10,000 attacks in Lebanon: The total number of Israeli attacks in Lebanon has topped 10,000, Lebanese authorities said, adding that there were 146 Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours alone. Israeli attacks killed at least 41 people and wounded 124 in Lebanon over the past day.
Quarter of Lebanon under evacuation orders: Around a fifth of Lebanon’s population has fled their homes, and around a quarter of the country is under Israeli military evacuation orders, according to the Middle East director of the United Nations Refugee Agency. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) insisted its ground operation in Lebanon is limited even though four of its divisions are now involved in the fighting.
Hezbollah strikes: Ninety rockets were fired at Israel from Lebanon on Tuesday night and at least one landed in the northern city of Haifa, the IDF said. Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem has called on Israelis to accept a ceasefire in Lebanon or face “pain” as the group changes its strategy to strike harder and deeper into Israel.