Israel fails to meet US aid demands

International aid groups said that Israel had failed to meet a series of US demands intended to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza by a deadline that ended yesterday.
The United States told its ally Israel in a letter on October 13 that it must take steps to improve the aid situation within 30 days. If not, it could face potential restrictions on US military aid.
“Israel not only failed to meet the US criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza,” a group of eight aid groups including Oxfam, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council said in 19-page report.
For more than a month, Israeli forces have been pushing deeper into north Gaza, surrounding hospitals and shelters and creating fresh waves of displacement in an operation they say is designed to prevent Hamas fighters regrouping there.
On Friday, global food security experts released a rare warning of imminent famine in parts of northern Gaza unless immediate steps were taken to ease the situation, reports Reuters.
Israel said on Monday it had met most of the US demands. Some things remain under discussion and they touch on safety issues, an Israeli official told reporters.
During a summit of Arab and Muslim countries in Riyadh on Monday, Hamas called on the, to translate their pledges of support into action and take measures to stop Israeli “aggression”.
Arab and Muslim leaders demanded that Israel withdraw from occupied Palestinian territories as a precondition for regional peace, while denouncing “shocking” Israeli crimes in Gaza.
Israel’s military campaign has levelled much of Gaza and killed more than 43,665 Palestinians, Gaza health officials said.
Palestinian and United Nations officials say there are no safe areas in the enclave, home to more than 2.1 million people and now largely in ruins.
Yesterday, residents said Israeli tanks advanced deeper in Beit Hanoun and besieged four displaced families before ordering them to leave towards Gaza City.
The Israeli military has denied any such intention, and Netanyahu has said he does not want to reverse the 2005 withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. Hardliners in his government have talked openly about going back.