The United States is preparing to send $135 million in new humanitarian aid to Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Oct. 24.
Speaking alongside Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at a joint press conference in Doha, Blinken thanked Qatar for ensuring “thousands of tons [of] food, medical supplies, of life-saving systems for the people of Gaza” amid the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
“The United States, as the largest provider of aid to displaced Palestinians, is also continuing to make vital contributions,” Blinken said. “Today, we’re announcing an additional $135 million in humanitarian assistance, water sanitation, maternal health for Palestinians in Gaza as well as in the region.”
Blinken said this latest aid package will bring the total U.S. humanitarian support for Gaza to more than $1.2 billion since the fighting began a little more than a year ago.
The Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip are in response to Hamas terrorists’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel, during which they killed 1,200 people and took about 250 hostage. Since then, Israeli forces have sought to eradicate Hamas and to secure the release of the remaining hostages.
The Gaza health ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, assesses that nearly 43,000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the fighting began. Exact casualty figures cannot be independently verified at this time. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and noncombatants but has said that a little more than half the dead are women, children, and the elderly.
“It’s not even enough to get the assistance to the borders of Gaza. What’s so critical is that the aid gets to the people who need it,” Blinken said on Oct. 24.
He and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sent a letter to the Israeli government on Oct. 13, urging it to do more to ensure that humanitarian aid can actually get to the people in the embattled Gaza Strip. In the letter, the two requested specific improvements, including ensuring that a minimum of 350 truckloads of food and supplies can reach the Gaza Strip daily and coordinating with aid organizations to pause combat operations so aid distribution can proceed.
The Oct. 13 letter warned that insufficient Israeli action could affect continued U.S. support for Israel and gave Israel 30 days to make improvements. The U.S. government has not said exactly what consequences may be at play if Israel doesn’t make sufficient improvements within that period.
Blinken, speaking in Qatar, said the United States has a list of “very specific actions” for Israel to take and is tracking progress daily. Blinken said there has been progress since the Oct. 13 letter, such as that Israeli officials opened up aid delivery routes and restarted a water desalination plant in Khan Yunis to supply clean water.
“Some other steps have been taken. But this is not yet enough,” Blinken said.
Blinken and Austin sent their letter amid reports that Israeli military planners have considered implementing a proposal—dubbed the “Generals’ Plan”—in which Israeli forces would give people a deadline to leave designated areas of northern Gaza, after which they would deem those that remain lawful combatants and target them with strikes or cut them off from food, water, and other essential supplies.
Speaking in Qatar on Thursday, Blinken said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured him that Israeli forces aren’t pursuing the “Generals’ Plan.”
“We reject any effort to create a siege, to starve people, to hive off northern Gaza, from the rest of Gaza,” Blinken said. “We’ve been very clear about that. We’ll remain very clear about that. But again, from the words of the Prime Minister, directly to me, that is not Israel’s policy.”
The Qatari prime minister expressed his own concerns during the Oct. 24 joint press conference over what he described as “intense attacks by Israel” in northern Gaza.
The Epoch Times reached out to the Israeli military for comment about the “Generals’ Plan” and Israeli military operations in northern Gaza but did not receive a response by publication time.
Blinken said the best solution for ensuring humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip is to push forward a cease-fire to end the ongoing fighting and allow for a hostage exchange.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration had cast Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a primary obstacle to an eventual cease-fire deal, positioning his death in Gaza last week as an opportunity to advance negotiations.
From The Epoch Times