US says Israel not violating aid law lespite ongoing crisis in Gaza

The U.S. government announced Tuesday that it does not consider Israel in violation of U.S. aid law in relation to humanitarian support for Gaza, despite ongoing criticism from aid agencies about insufficient assistance.

The statement from State Department spokesman Vedant Patel comes after Israel opened an additional crossing to facilitate aid entry into Gaza, meeting the deadline established by the Biden administration to improve Gaza’s humanitarian conditions or risk a potential reduction in U.S. military assistance.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, Gaza has faced severe humanitarian challenges, prompting the U.S. to press Israel for compliance with aid standards. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in an October communication, set a November 13 deadline for Israel to meet requirements for aid passage under U.S. law.

“We have not made an assessment that they are in violation of U.S. law,” Patel said, emphasizing that while the conditions in Gaza remain “unsatisfactory,” actions by Israel were “steps in the right direction.”

The U.S. administration’s stance follows Israel’s decision to open the Kissufim crossing, intended to boost aid access. Nevertheless, the volume of assistance has not reached levels prescribed by the U.S., which initially requested a minimum of 350 aid trucks per day.

On Monday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and eight humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, said the amount of aid remains insufficient, warning that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis had reached unprecedented levels. A senior UN official, Joyce Msuya, interim chief of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), described the situation as displaying “acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes.”

UNRWA’s emergencies officer Louise Wateridge also reported that aid access to Gaza was “at its lowest level in months.”

The humanitarian conditions accompany a backdrop of continued violence. Since October 7, Israeli officials report that over 1,200 Israelis have been killed, primarily civilians. Retaliatory strikes in Gaza have claimed over 43,000 lives, according to the Gaza health ministry, with the majority reported as civilians, a figure corroborated by United Nations sources. Civilian accounts of destruction and loss, like that of Umm Muhammad Awda, underscore the human toll within Gaza.

In parallel, conflict has intensified along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Israel’s airstrikes in Lebanon, primarily targeting Hezbollah positions, have led to significant casualties, including an attack in the Chouf region that killed at least 15 people, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. The ministry also reported that over 3,000 Lebanese have died since hostilities resumed in September, with casualties sharply increasing in recent weeks