.jpg?20250802')
The United States has warned Israel that it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid, US officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israeli operations to root out Hamas militants began a year ago.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday expressing concern over the deteriorating situation in the Palestinian enclave, US officials said yesterday.
“We are writing now to underscore the US government’s deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory,” they wrote in a letter to their Israeli counterparts, posted by an Axios reporter on X. Failure to do so could impact US policy, said the letter, which was first reported by Israeli News 12.
Officials confirmed the letter’s veracity to Reuters and said it had been sent to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.
The State Department and Pentagon did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the letter. The White House did not immediately respond on whether President Joe Biden signed off on the letter.
The Israeli embassy in Washington declined to comment.
The letter is the clearest ultimatum yet to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government since the Gaza conflict began, raising the prospect of a shift in Washington’s support for Israel.
Washington has frequently pressed Israel to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza since the war with Hamas began with the Palestinian group’s attacks on southern Israel just over a year ago.
&uuid=(email))