WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – President Joe Biden met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday, as international aid organizations said conditions in Gaza are worse than at any point in Israel’s war with Hamas.
Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin wrote a letter, threatening to withhold aid to Israel if humanitarian conditions in Gaza didn’t improve within 30 days. That deadline ended on Tuesday.
Among the requirements, Blinken and Austin wanted Israel to allow 350 aid trucks into Gaza every day. U.S. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said Israel allowed 404 aid trucks into Gaza between Nov. 1 and Nov. 9, well short of the goal. Still, Patel said the U.S. is not withholding military aid to Gaza.
“We, at this time, have not made an assessment that the Israelis are in violation of U.S. law,” Patel said. “We’re not giving Israel a pass.”
Both Presidents Herzog and Biden have blamed Iran for increasing instability in the Middle East.
“They are doing whatever they can to derail stability and security and peace,” Herzog said.
Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hamas is the group responsible for the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. President Herzog said 101 hostages are still in Gaza.
On Monday, the Pentagon announced the U.S. launched attacks at another Iran-backed group, the Houthis in Yemen.
U.S. Central Command says the military is responding to attacks on U.S. personnel, but nobody was injured.
