US Retracts Threat of Arms Embargo Against Israel
According to the US State Department, Israel has not fully addressed Washington's humanitarian concerns but will continue to receive weapons. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The US State Department has confirmed that it will continue arms shipments to Israel, even though the country has not fully met the humanitarian conditions set by Washington for these deliveries.
In a briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel informed reporters that Israel had taken some steps outlined in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent to Israel’s defense and strategic affairs ministers last month, but did not fulfill all the requirements.
The letter indicated that Israel needed to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or risk halting US arms supplies, as US law prohibits transferring military equipment to nations that obstruct aid to civilians.
Among the outlined demands, the letter requested Israel to permit 350 aid trucks into Gaza every day, establish a fifth crossing into the enclave, halt the eviction of civilians from northern Gaza, and revoke a law restricting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East from operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Patel stated on Wednesday that Israel has implemented “a number of steps to address the measures laid out in the letter” and emphasized that the State Department does “not” consider Israel to be in violation of US law.
However, a report released by a coalition of aid agencies on Tuesday indicated that Israel has only partially addressed four out of the 19 conditions specified in the letter, with an average of just 42 trucks entering Gaza daily over the past month—significantly lower than the required amount. The report also mentioned five new evacuation orders issued in October, including one for northern Gaza, no new crossing points opened, and ongoing restrictions on UNRWA’s operations.
In response, COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza, noted there is a backlog of 900 truckloads of aid waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing. COGAT suggested that aid organizations should focus on distributing the pending aid rather than evaluating Israel's compliance.
The US remains Israel's largest arms supplier, contributing over two-thirds of its weapon imports. Last May, President Joe Biden had temporarily halted the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and warned that more weapons could be embargoed if the Israeli Defense Forces persisted with military operations in Rafah, southern Gaza. Despite this, the IDF proceeded with the operations, and Biden eventually lifted the temporary freeze on arms deliveries.
According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the US has allocated $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, which surpasses the entire annual defense budgets of the Netherlands and Türkiye.
Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict last October, several nations, including Canada, Italy, France, and the UK, have suspended arms sales to Israel.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
In a briefing on Tuesday, State Department spokesman Vedant Patel informed reporters that Israel had taken some steps outlined in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent to Israel’s defense and strategic affairs ministers last month, but did not fulfill all the requirements.
The letter indicated that Israel needed to take measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or risk halting US arms supplies, as US law prohibits transferring military equipment to nations that obstruct aid to civilians.
Among the outlined demands, the letter requested Israel to permit 350 aid trucks into Gaza every day, establish a fifth crossing into the enclave, halt the eviction of civilians from northern Gaza, and revoke a law restricting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East from operating in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Patel stated on Wednesday that Israel has implemented “a number of steps to address the measures laid out in the letter” and emphasized that the State Department does “not” consider Israel to be in violation of US law.
However, a report released by a coalition of aid agencies on Tuesday indicated that Israel has only partially addressed four out of the 19 conditions specified in the letter, with an average of just 42 trucks entering Gaza daily over the past month—significantly lower than the required amount. The report also mentioned five new evacuation orders issued in October, including one for northern Gaza, no new crossing points opened, and ongoing restrictions on UNRWA’s operations.
In response, COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for transferring humanitarian aid to Gaza, noted there is a backlog of 900 truckloads of aid waiting at the Kerem Shalom crossing. COGAT suggested that aid organizations should focus on distributing the pending aid rather than evaluating Israel's compliance.
The US remains Israel's largest arms supplier, contributing over two-thirds of its weapon imports. Last May, President Joe Biden had temporarily halted the delivery of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel and warned that more weapons could be embargoed if the Israeli Defense Forces persisted with military operations in Rafah, southern Gaza. Despite this, the IDF proceeded with the operations, and Biden eventually lifted the temporary freeze on arms deliveries.
According to the Costs of War Project at Brown University, the US has allocated $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, which surpasses the entire annual defense budgets of the Netherlands and Türkiye.
Since the onset of the Israel-Hamas conflict last October, several nations, including Canada, Italy, France, and the UK, have suspended arms sales to Israel.
Sanya Singh contributed to this report for TROIB News
