US gives Israel 30-day deadline to improve Gaza's humanitarian situation | LBC

The White House has given Israel 30 days to increase the amount of humanitarian aid entering Gaza or risk losing access to US weapons funding.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin issued the warning to their Israeli counterparts in a letter sent on Sunday.

The letter comes amid rapidly deteriorating conditions in Gaza, with a recent Israeli strike on a hospital containing civilians killing at least four people and some reports claiming no humanitarian aid has entered the region since early October.

A senior defence official said on Tuesday that Mr Blinken and Mr Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts as they noticed the decrease in assistance reaching Gaza.

The official said a similar letter sent by Mr Blinken in April triggered a constructive response and "concrete measures from the Israelis," the Press Association reports.

"Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for U.S. policy ... and relevant U.S. law," the letter said.

The official, who wishes to remain anonymous, said the White House hopes this letter can help to address the problem in part.

For Israel to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, the level of aid getting into Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks a day, Israel must institute additional humanitarian pauses and provide increased security for humanitarian sites, Mr Austin and Mr Blinken said.

Former UK ambassador to the UN Lord Hannay joins Andrew Marr to give his analysis of the US' decision.

#andrewmarr #israel #gaza #humanitarianaid #middleeast #palestine #joebiden #unitedstates #uspolitics #ukpolitics #sanctions #LBC

LBC is the home of live debate around news and current affairs in the UK.

[BettyYeo-zz]

How many people will starve to death in 30 days.fkn joke.

[sambrowne]

The UK and US are fully involved as much as Israel. Period

[Calm]

30 days to act like they care before elections on November 5th 😂😂😂....

[colettemcdermott]

The deadline should have been 30 hours.

[b.j.larmour]

They did not say they will stop arms supplies, They did say we may restrict arms supplies. big difference.

[mohamedabdelmeguid]

Like the US doesn’t need a 30 day deadline itself. Enough BS

[paulandhisguitars]

Israel should be blacklisted in the same way Russia has been. The UK and usa's moral authority is almost completely gone now.

[RainmakeR]

WoW ....UK is upset about the mess they a joke ..

[christianmccann]

BDS apartheid Israel .. Free Palestine!

[neonwired]

it's been 70 years of indifference

[sjt]

30 days. What a sick joke. How about 30 seconds?

[bascol]

The US should stop arms shipments to Israel fullstop!

[zozo]

Could u live for 30days no food basic human rights disgusting

[AP-ccuw]

Or the US could just stop sending weapons and money.

[colettemcdermott]

This is extremely late in the day. But it should be a total weapons embargo.

[SeanCrosser]

So basically "you better have it cleared by next month so that we can do nothing but act like we feel bad that we couldn't stop it earlier"

[milsub]

Oh dear...Cameron was contemplating some action...WHY DIDN'T HE?

[nurulan]

Not retaliation. Remember Israel attacked first.

[brianorakpohit]

It's at times like these that you are given a stark reminder that morality, ethics and basic humanity is just something those in real power pay lip service to. It's nothing to do with those qualities and everything to do with money and power.

[colettemcdermott]

He was contemplating. That means practically nothing.