The United States of America has written to Israel, giving it 30 days to increase access to humanitarian aid in Gaza or risk losing some of its military support.
The letter, which was sent on Sunday, is the strongest written warning that the United States has ever sent to its ally. It comes amid a new Israeli offensive in northern Gaza that has reportedly killed a lot of civilians.
It adds that Israel denied or obstructed nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between the north and south last month, indicating that the United States is deeply concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation.
An Israeli official was quoted as saying that Israel is looking over the letter, adding that the nation "takes this matter seriously" and plans to "address the concerns raised" with US counterparts.
Israel has previously stated that it is not preventing the entry of humanitarian aid but rather is focusing on Hamas members in the north.
30 lorries carrying aid from the World Food Programme had entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing, according to Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of managing Gaza crossings.
That brought an end to a two-week period in which the United Nations claimed that no food aid was delivered to the north and that the 400,000 Palestinians there were running out of necessities for survival.
Gaza is currently in a state of "constant peak emergency," according to a UN official.
According to the AFP news agency, Antoine Renard, the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) in the occupied Palestinian territories, people in the north of the territory were "relying solely on assistance" and had virtually no access to fresh food other than that provided by UN agencies.
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