Israel tells the US it will limit its expected attack on Iran to military targets, officials say

The decision not to write the letter in Mr. Biden’s name, according to some advisers, could provide some isolation for Vice President Kamala Harris, who has walked a fine line as the Democratic presidential nominee, declining to even threaten Israel while pushing for the War must be ended quickly, including to end the “heartbreaking” loss of Palestinian lives.

The written warning comes just three weeks before the US presidential election, amid a campaign in which some progressives in the party say Mr Biden and Ms Harris should push Israel much harder to prevent civilian deaths in its military operation in Gaza.

The letter was publicly leaked on Tuesday morning, a day after Ms Harris said in a social media post that Israel needed to do more to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza. Ms. Harris campaigned on Tuesday in Michigan, a key battleground state with a large population of Muslim and Arab American voters, many of whom are angry about how the Biden-Harris administration has handled Israel’s offensive in Gaza. She is scheduled to return to Michigan to campaign on Thursday and Friday.

It is unclear how Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will respond. However, with the deadline for the letter falling after the US presidential election, it could allow Mr Netanyahu to wait until it is clear whether he will face Ms Harris – or Donald J. Trump – in January.

U.S. and United Nations officials have warned in recent weeks that conditions in Gaza, particularly in the territory’s north, are continuing to deteriorate as the Israeli military focuses operations against so-called Hamas objectors in the region.

“What we have seen in recent months is that the level of humanitarian assistance in Gaza has not been sustained,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, told reporters at a news conference. “In fact, it’s down over 50 percent from its peak.”

He added that Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin “felt it appropriate to make it clear to the Israeli government that it needs to make changes” to increase aid deliveries “from the current very, very low levels.” Aid deliveries to Gaza in September reached their lowest level since Hamas-led attacks in Israel just over a year ago, he said.

Mr. Miller declined to specify the possible consequences if Israel did not comply, although a copy of the letter posted online by Axios reporter Barak Ravid, described by U.S. officials as authentic, clearly raised the possibility of a suspension of military aid addressed. It cited a U.S. law that bans military aid to any country that blocks the U.S. from providing humanitarian aid.

Mr. Miller appeared to hint at this possibility, saying, “It’s just a simple interpretation of U.S. law.” We need to conduct assessments and determine that recipients of U.S. military assistance are not arbitrarily denying or obstructing the delivery of our humanitarian assistance. That is simply the law and we will of course abide by the law.”

The U.S. warning that military aid to Israel could be at risk comes as the Biden administration says it is sending an advanced air defense system to help the country defend itself against missile attacks from Iran. Israel is preparing to attack the country in response to an Iranian attack on its territory on October 1.

After nearly a year of dire warnings to Israel about conditions in Gaza that failed to result in significant penalties, many experts were skeptical that the new U.S. admonition would lead to a different outcome.

“The Israelis will do enough to appear to be improving humanitarian conditions, and the government will go along no matter how serious those efforts are,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East peace negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “It stretches the limits of credibility to the breaking point to believe that the administration would act to limit U.S. military aid to Israel as the Iran-Israel crisis worsens,” he said.

But Biden administration officials say their concerns about conditions in Gaza have increased rapidly in recent weeks.

“We write now to underscore the U.S. government’s deep concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and call on your government this month to take urgent and sustained action to reverse this trend,” Mr.’s letter said Blinken and Mr. Austin.

The letter set several concrete benchmarks that Israel must meet, including allowing at least 350 aid trucks to pass through Gaza per day and “implementing appropriate humanitarian pauses” in military operations to allow aid deliveries and vaccinations “for at least the next four months.” . ”

All of these are more specific requirements than Ms. Harris has laid out publicly as she tries to navigate between the progressive wing of her party, which has called for an end to arms sales, and traditional support for Israel.

The letter contains no reference to the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, which led to the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Instead, it begins with a reminder of the commitments Israel made to Mr. Blinken in April, which led to a temporary surge in aid deliveries to Gaza.

U.S. officials are particularly concerned about the northern Gaza Strip, where about 400,000 Palestinians still live. Israel has ordered their evacuation, warning that they face high risk from fighting in the area. The letter called on Israel to end the “isolation” of the northern Gaza Strip, reaffirming, among other things, “that there will be no Israeli government policy to evacuate civilians from the northern to the southern Gaza Strip.”

The letter also insists that Israel allow people in a humanitarian zone in Al-Mawasi on the Gaza Strip coast to move inland before the start of winter.

John F. Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, told reporters in a separate briefing that the letter reflected “a deep sense of urgency” within the Biden administration about the situation.

One sign of concern was Ms Harris’s social media post.

“The UN reports that no food has entered the northern Gaza Strip for almost two weeks,” Ms. Harris wrote in her official government report. “Israel must urgently do more to ease the flow of aid to those in need. Civilians must be protected and have access to food, water and medicine. International humanitarian law must be respected.”

Apparently aware of the impact that U.S. politics has on her electoral prospects, Ms. Harris met with local Muslim and Arab American leaders during a campaign stop in Michigan earlier this month.

The 30-day deadline set in the letter would expire after the election, potentially making it politically easier for Mr. Biden to take tougher action against Israel than he has previously been willing to take.

Mr. Miller, the State Department spokesman, said the 30-day deadline would give Israel “reasonable” time to implement changes to its aid delivery, rather than requiring “this to happen overnight.”

Mr. Blinken sent a similar letter to Mr. Gallant in April, which Mr. Miller credited with prompting Israel to increase its aid deliveries to Gaza. After that letter, Mr. Miller said, as many as 300 to 400 aid trucks entered Gaza on some days – a number U.S. officials consider sufficient. But he added that Mr. Blinken also made it clear at the time “that the increase should not be an isolated incident but must be sustainable.”

He added that the letter was intended as private diplomatic correspondence but that the United States confirmed its existence after it was leaked to the news media.

Zolan Kanno Youngs And Eric Schmitt contributed to the reporting.