JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has not responded to U.S. demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any time in the 13-month-old war, people said Tuesday. international humanitarian organizations.

Last month, the Biden administration called on Israel to “inject” more food and other emergency aid into the Palestinian territory, giving it a 30-day deadline that expires Tuesday. The administration has warned that failure to comply could trigger U.S. laws forcing it to reduce military support as Israel wages offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel announced a series of measures aimed at improving the situation. But U.S. officials recently signaled that Israel was still not doing enough, although they did not say whether they would take action.

Israel’s new Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the significance of the delay, telling reporters Monday that he was confident “the problem would be resolved.” The Biden administration may have less influence following the re-election of Donald Trump, who was a strong supporter of Israel during his first term.

Tuesday’s report, written by eight international humanitarian organizations, lists 19 measures of compliance with U.S. requirements. He said Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four.

An October 13 letter signed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel, among other things, to allow at least 350 cargo trucks into Gaza each day; open a fifth passage to the besieged territory; allowing people living in Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before winter; and ensuring access for humanitarian groups to hard-hit northern Gaza. He also called on Israel to suspend any legislation that could hamper the operations of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

Following the publication of the report, the Israeli army announced on Tuesday the opening of a fifth crossing near the town of Deir al Balah, in Gaza. It will supply the central and southern regions of the territory.

Despite Israeli measures to increase the flow of aid, levels remain well below U.S. benchmarks. Residents are also still crowded into tent camps, aid workers’ access to northern Gaza remains restricted, and Israel has continued its laws against UNRWA.

“Not only has Israel failed to meet US criteria indicating support for the humanitarian response, it has at the same time taken steps that have significantly worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza,” the statement said. report. “This situation is even more dire today than it was a month ago. »

The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress, but needed to do more to meet U.S. conditions.

“What’s important when you see all these steps being taken is what it means for the bottom line,” he said.

Israel last month launched a major offensive in northern Gaza, where it said Hamas militants had regrouped. The operation killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Israel has allowed virtually no aid into the region, where tens of thousands of civilians have remained despite evacuation orders.

Aid to Gaza plummeted in October, when only 34,000 tons of food arrived, less than half of the previous month, according to Israeli data.

UN agencies say even fewer funds are actually reaching their destination due to Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness that makes it difficult to collect and distribute aid on the Gaza side .

In October, an average of 57 trucks per day entered Gaza, according to Israeli figures, and 81 per day during the first week of November. The UN estimates this figure to be falling, to 37 trucks per day since the beginning of October.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza, said the drop in the number of aid trucks in October was due to the closure of crossings for major Jewish holidays and memorials marking the anniversary of October 7, 2023., Hamas attack which started the war.

“October was a very weak month,” said an Israeli official on condition of anonymity, in line with military briefing rules. “But if you look at the numbers from November, we are holding at around 50 trucks per day to northern Gaza and 150 per day to the rest of Gaza. »

Aid distribution is also hampered by the inability of the UN and other agencies to collect aid entering Gaza, leading to bottlenecks and theft by Hamas and organized crime families in Gaza, he explained. He estimates that up to 40% of aid is stolen on some days.

Israel announced Monday a small expansion of its coastal “humanitarian zone,” where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought refuge in vast tent camps. He also announced additional measures, including connecting electricity to a desalination plant in the central Gaza town of Deir al Balah and efforts to deliver supplies for the winter.

On Tuesday, COGAT announced a “tactical” delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit towns in northern Gaza. Also Monday evening, Israel’s security cabinet approved an increase in aid to Gaza, which will increase the number of trucks entering Gaza each day, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The war began last year when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping about 250 people. Around a hundred hostages are still in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to have died.

Israel’s bombings and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of whom were women and children, according to local health authorities, who do not say how many of those killed were militants. Around 90% of the population has been displaced, often repeatedly, and hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into squalid tent camps, with little food, water or sanitation facilities.

The United States has pumped billions of dollars in military aid into Israel during the war and shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, while pressing it to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The amount of aid entering Gaza increased under US pressure last spring after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers before decreasing again.

Trump promised to end wars in the Middle East without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel during his previous term, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said they had spoken out three times since his re-election last week.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, is due to meet US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Former US State Department official Charles Blaha, who led the office responsible for ensuring that US military support complied with US and international law, predicted that the Biden administration would find that Israel was violating the law by preventing humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza.

“It is undeniable that Israel did this,” Blaha said. “They would really have to torture themselves to discover that Israel has not limited (…) its aid.”

But he added that the administration would likely invoke U.S. national security interests and lift restrictions on military support.

“If the past is just prologue, no restrictions, and then pass the buck to the next administration.”

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.

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