A Senior US official at the White House told aid agencies that the US would not stop sending arms to Israel [Getty]
A US official has told aid groups that the Biden administration will not halt the transfer of weapons to Israel even if food and aid were being blocked to Gaza.
In the two-hour meeting, held on 29 August by Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues Lise Grande, aid groups were told that other tactics would be used to pressure Israel to increase aid flows, Politico reported, citing unnamed sources at the meeting.
However, around a dozen aid groups were told that Israel was one of a few US allies that the US government would not oppose and would give everything it needed, the report said.
During the meeting, the aid groups told Grande that Israel was violating international humanitarian law and inhibiting the ability of their organisations to work in the enclave properly.
According to one person in the meeting, Grande “was saying that the rules don’t apply to Israel”, the report said.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed 42,409 people and wounded a further 99,153 and caused what aid agencies have described as a humanitarian catastrophe in the now largely destroyed enclave.
The Politico report comes following a letter from the US administration to Israel giving the government 30 days to improve the dire aid situation in Gaza or face implications under US law.
Several US organisations have urged the government to cease arms transfers now, rather than in 30 days, as US law was already being violated.
A State Department report in May suggested that Israel was violating International Humanitarian Law, but did not give a definitive conclusion on the issue, allowing arms transfers to continue.
Several officials in the US government resigned over the issue, including former official Stacy Gilbert who said that the May report had been edited by senior officials before submitting it to Congress.
Grande further said during the meeting that as long as Israel’s agency in charge of aid distribution COGAT was in charge of aid it would be difficult to change the reality of humanitarian operations in Gaza.
As well as reports that the US would not stop sending aid to Israel, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reported to present an Israeli-Emirati post-war plan in Gaza post-November election.
The plan, according to Axios, would see an international mission to Gaza to deliver aid, establish security and governance with the support of UAE soldiers.
However, the inclusion of the Palestinian Authority, which would be headed by a new President and Prime Minister, has had push-back from the Israeli government which also is against a two-state solution being part of the plan.