Two US agencies warned Blinken of Israel blocking US aid, report says

ProPublica documents show government assessments shared with Secretary of State before he rejected them

Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid from the UAE and USAID before arriving on the beach on the Gaza Strip. US Army via AP

Two US government agencies reportedly assessed that Israel was blocking American humanitarian aid in Gaza, days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken publicly claimed that Israel was not.

Millions of people in Gaza are suffering from famine-like conditions, the UN says, as a humanitarian crisis also has limited access to clean water, medicine, and essentials such as soap. The Gaza Health Ministry has repeatedly said its system is at the brink of collapse due to lack of supplies and fuel.

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) concluded that Israeli forces were blocking food and essential medicine from entering Gaza, and said so in a memo to Mr Blinken in April. The State Department's refugee bureau reached a similar conclusion and shared their position to diplomats in the same month, ProPublica reported on Tuesday.

However, Mr Blinken wrote to Congress days later: “We do not currently assess that the Israeli government is prohibiting or otherwise restricting the transport or delivery of US humanitarian assistance.”

ProPublica's report suggests that parts of the US government do believe that Israel is blocking US aid for the Palestinian enclave, and that Mr Blinken was made aware of those assessments.

It also suggests that he ignored evidence that showed a possible violation of US law that ceases weapons shipments to any country that prevents American assistance from getting to intended populations in need.

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ProPublica said it obtained the memorandums, collected evidence and several emails from USAID and the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM).

The Foreign Assistance Act was mentioned by the agencies, which includes the 620I clause that is intended to force allies dependent on US military aid to allow assistance to move freely.

One email showed an interaction where PRM bureau assistant secretary, Julieta Valls Noyes, answered "yes" to a question by the State Department's legal office asking: “Is PRM saying 620I has been triggered for Israel?”

ProPublica reported that USAID gave cases of humanitarian aid workers being killed, bombardment of medical vehicles and hospitals, allowing disruption of aid work and holding back deliveries of food and medicine at crossing points.

While Mr Blinken claimed that Israel is not blocking aid, President Joe Biden and his administration both privately and publicly pushed for Israel to increase humanitarian deliveries into Gaza.

Israel has at times responded to US pressure, opening border crossings, but humanitarian aid workers have still come under fire while doing their work, despite Israeli's deconfliction measures.

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Despite the evidence and assessments, the State Department issued its highly anticipated National Security Memorandum in May declaring that Israel probably breached international humanitarian law when using US-made weapons in Gaza, but said that “provision of defence articles” to Israel could continue.

And the US has sent millions of dollars worth in military weapons to Israel over the course of its war in Gaza.

In contrast to Mr Blinken's remarks and the memorandum's conclusion absolving Israel, the US still has had to find different ways to bring assistance into Gaza, including aerial aid drops and a faulty, short-lived floating pier operation.

Senator Bernie Sanders last week introduced a long-shot bill that would block military shipments to Israel for its actions hindering delivery of US humanitarian assistance, a breach of international law.