The Biden administration has warned Israel that it will stop arms transfers if the humanitarian situation in Gaza does not improve in 30 days.
In a letter to Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, obtained by The Times of Israel on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza had significantly deteriorated over the past few months due to a lack of aid entering the strip.
The US said that since the spring, the amount of aid entering Gaza “has dropped by more than 50 per cent” and warned that Israel had a month to boost supplies or it would risk having some military assistance cut off.
In the letter, US officials explained that the deteriorating humanitarian situation has called into question Israel’s commitment not to block the entry of aid into Gaza, and that it is using US weapons within international law.
Meanwhile, the UK has announced that it will impose sanctions on three illegal settler outposts and four organisations which have sponsored violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced that the UK will impose sanctions on illegal settler outposts and organisations which have sponsored violence against Palestinians in the West Bank (Getty Images)Getty Images
The measures, introduced today by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, will implement strict financial restrictions on extremist groups that support or incite settler violence, with an aim of cracking down on the “unprecedented rise” in such incidents over the past year.
The settler outposts sanctioned today include Tirzah Valley Farm Outpost, Meitarim Outpost, and Shuvi Eretz Outpost.
According to the UK government, they have been involved in “facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity that amounts to a serious abuse of the right of Palestinians not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
The four sanctioned organisations include Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva, a religious school in the Yitzhar settlement which is accused of promoting settler violence against non-Jewish people, and Hashomer Yosh, a non-governmental organisation that provides volunteers for illegal outposts.
The other sanctioned groups are Torat Lechima, a registered Israeli charity that provides illegal support to settler outposts, “linked to acts of violence” according to the UK government, and Amana, a commercial construction company which has overseen the establishment of outposts, and which provides funding for Israeli settlers, “involved in threatening Palestinian communities in the West Bank”.
Lammy said: “When I went to the West Bank earlier this year, on one of my first trips as Foreign Secretary, I met with Palestinians whose communities have suffered horrific violence at the hands of Israeli settlers.
“The inaction of the Israeli government has allowed an environment of impunity to flourish where settler violence has been allowed to increase unchecked. Settlers have shockingly even targeted schools and families with young children.”
He said the Israeli government must “crack down” on settler violence, and warned Israel that as long as the “extremists” remain unaccountable, the UK and the international community will continue to respond with sanctions.
