US tells Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk aid

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 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 on Tuesday.

"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.

The reports come as Israeli forces expand operations into northern Gaza amid ongoing concerns about access to humanitarian aid throughout the enclave and civilians' access to food, water and medicine.

Israeli military strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces tightened their squeeze around Jabalia in the north of the enclave on Tuesday, amid fierce battles with Hamas-led fighters.

Palestinian health officials said at least 17 people were killed by Israeli fire near Al Falouja in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, while 10 others were killed in Bani Suhaila in eastern Khan Younis in the south when an Israeli missile struck a house.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military said troops had killed dozens of fighters in the Jabalia area over the past day, including a unit that fired an anti-tank missile at them. The United Nations human rights office said the Israeli military appeared to be "cutting off North Gaza completely from the rest of the Gaza Strip.

"Gaza families are facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion. People must be able to flee safely, without facing further danger," Adrian Zimmerman, ICRC Gaza head of sub-delegation, said in a statement.

Agencies