Middle East: US gives Israel 30 days to boost Gaza aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says he told French President Emmanuel Macron that he would not agree to a cease-fire deal that did not stop Hezbollah from rearming and regrouping.

Macron has urged a cease-fire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, as well as an end to arms exports used in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

"The Prime Minister told President Macron that he opposes a unilateral cease-fire, which would not change the security situation in Lebanon and would return the country to its previous state," a statement from his office said.

"He emphasized that Israel is operating against the Hezbollah terrorist organization to prevent it from threatening Israel's citizens on the northern border and to enable them to return to their homes safely."

France rejected demands on Monday made by Netanyahu for a UN peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, to pull back from its position in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, France summoned Israel's ambassador to Paris over an incident where Israeli troops opened fire at three positions held by UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

The United States says it has voiced concern to its ally Israel over bombings of Beirut as part of its campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah.

"We have made clear that we are opposed to the campaign the way we've seen it conducted over the past weeks," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters, referring to Beirut in particular.

Miller said while there are strikes the US would consider appropriate for Israel to carry out, it had made clear its concerns to the Israeli government, largely because of the high civilian toll.

US President Joe Biden's administration has also warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it allows into Gaza within the next 30 days or risk losing access to US weapons funding.

Iran-backed Hezbollah is considered a terrorist organization by the US, Germany and several Sunni Arab countries, while the EU lists its armed wing as a terrorist group.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has confirmed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin have written to Israeli ministers about the White House's concerns on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Miller said the letter had been sent to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer.

The letter was sent as US President Joe Biden's administration noted a recent decrease in assistance reaching Gaza. 

Miller said Blinken and Austin had made "clear to the government of Israel that there are changes that they need to make again to see that the level of assistance making it into Gaza comes back up from the very, very low levels that it is at today."

For Israel to continue qualifying for foreign military financing, the level of aid getting into Gaza must increase to at least 350 trucks a day, the letter said. Israel must also institute additional humanitarian pauses and provide increased security for humanitarian sites, Austin and Blinken said.

They said Israel had 30 days to respond to the requirements.

Miller said the US knows it is possible to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that bureaucratic and logistical obstacles can be surmounted.

"We need to see further changes by the government of Israel," Miller said, adding that there were implications under US law. He said Washington hoped that Israel would make the changes outlined in the letter.

It was said to have restated US policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers from the US to Israel.

The letter was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports that Israel had conducted a strike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza.

Sam Rose, senior deputy director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, or UNRWA, told DW that he has "deep concerns" about the population of northern Gaza. Most worrying, he said, is the Jabalia refugee camp, which Israel has started to surround, claiming that Hamas militants are regrouping there.

"We have deep, deep concerns about the lives, the well-being and the protection of the civilian population that's in that part of of Gaza," Rose said. 

"About 400,000 people remain in Gaza City and Jabalia," Rose said, "and around half of those are children."

"Very little aid has got into northern Gaza over the past 2-3 weeks," Rose said, "less than at any time since the start of the conflict."

"We're hearing that, that a number of trucks may have crossed from Israel into northern Gaza this this morning," Rose said.

"But, given the harrowing situation that people are in," Rose said, "that flow will need to be increased."

"We're worried for the immediate lives and and and and and well-being of a population, particularly in Jabalia," Rose said, "that's been under very, very heavy bombardment now for several days and literally has nowhere to go."

Amid a resurgence of polio in Gaza, Rose said it did not appear likely that a planned second phase of vaccinations could happen in Jabalia. 

"If we're not able to vaccinate enough children collectively," Rose said, "then the immunity of the population overall is at risk." 
 

The United States has demanded that the Israeli government act to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within the next 30 days or face a suspension of military aid.

"We are writing now to underscore the US government's deep concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, and seek urgent and sustained actions by your government this month to reverse this trajectory," Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in a letter on Sunday, according to US news outlet Axios and Israeli News 12 reporters.

In the letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, they outlined specific steps that Israel must take within 30 days. These steps include enabling a minimum of 350 trucks to enter Gaza per day, instituting pauses in fighting to allow aid delivery and rescinding evacuation orders to Palestinian civilians when there is no operational need.

"Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy ... and relevant US law," the letter said.

Countries receiving US military aid and involved in active conflicts must allow the uninterrupted transfer of US-supported humanitarian aid, as per US law and a memorandum signed by President Joe Biden.

The US and Israeli governments did not immediately react to the Axios report. 

Hezbollah Deputy Chief Naim Qassem vowed on Tuesday to inflict "pain" on Israel while also saying the group was open to a cease-fire.

Threatening to strike targets across Israel, the Lebanese militant group said it would not be defeated by the ongoing bombardment of its strongholds and leadership.

"Since the Israeli enemy targeted all of Lebanon, we have the right from a defensive position to target any place" in Israel, he said.

He warned that "up to 2 million will be in danger at any time" and added: "We will focus on targeting the Israeli military and its centers and barracks."

With Israel engaged in conflicts in both Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah's deputy chief said a cease-fire that included Gaza was the only possible path to a resolution.

"The solution is a cease-fire," the deputy chief said in a recorded speech. "We are not speaking from a position of weakness. If the Israelis do not want that, we will continue."

"But after the cease-fire, according to an indirect agreement, the settlers would return to the north, and other steps would be outlined," Qassem said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni plans to visit Lebanon and has called for security guarantees for Italian troops there.

Her comments come after UN peacekeepers were injured in Israeli military operations against Hezbollah in the area where the blue helmets are stationed.

Although no Italian troops were injured, the country's 1,000 troops represent the second-largest contingent deployed by the UN peacekeeping mission, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

"In recent days, for the first time in a year of Israeli military actions, the positions of the Italian military contingent assigned to the UNIFIL mission of the United Nations have been hit by the Israeli army," Meloni told the Italian Senate.

"Although there were no casualties or significant damage," Meloni said, "I believe this cannot be considered acceptable."

She demanded that the security of the UN peacekeepers be guaranteed.

The US military confirmed that components for its high-altitude anti-missile system arrived in Israel on Monday.

The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery is meant to bolster Israeli air defenses in case of an Iranian missile attack.

"Over the coming days, additional US military personnel and THAAD battery components will continue to arrive in Israel," Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder said.

"The deployment of the THAAD battery to Israel underscores the United States' commitment to the defense of Israel and to defend Americans in Israel from any ballistic missile attacks by Iran," he added.

The measure includes the deployment of about 100 US troops to Israel.

Israel police said a gunman opened fire on a highway near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Tuesday, killing a police officer and wounding four civilians before he was shot dead by a passerby.

Authorities did not provide any details about the identity of the attacker.

"A short time ago a terrorist just came over to the main road here next to Tel Aviv, next to Yavne, and started shooting toward a police car, then went on and shot other ongoing cars and wounded our people," police spokesperson Mirit Ben Mayor told reporters.

The shooter was killed by an off-duty Israeli paramedic who happened to be on the road at the time.

"I was driving on the road, I saw a terrorist shooting, I jumped out of the car and neutralized him," the unidentified paramedic who shot the gunman told Israeli media during a live interview from the scene.

The United Nations on Tuesday demanded a "prompt, independent and thorough investigation" into an Israeli strike on the northern Lebanese village of Aito, which it said had killed 22 civilians.

According to an AFP photographer at the scene, Monday's strike leveled a residential building at the entrance to the Christian-majority village.

The UN human rights agency said it had received reports that most of the 22 victims of the airstrike were women and children.

"What we are hearing is that amongst the 22 people killed were 12 women and two children," UN human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence told a Geneva press briefing.

"We understand it was a four-story residential building that was struck. With these factors in mind, we have real concerns with respect to IHL (International Humanitarian Law), so the laws of war, and the principles of distinction, proportion and proportionality," he added.

Iranian commander Esmail Ghaani appeared in public to attend the funeral ceremony of slain general Abbas Nilforoushan, quashing rumors of his death. 

Ghaani, who heads the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, had disappeared from public view for some weeks now and was thought to have been killed in an Israeli strike in Lebanon. 

However, on Tuesday, he appeared at the funeral wearing the Revolutionary Guard's green military uniform. 

Nilforoushan, a general in the Revolutionary Guards, was killed last month alongside Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah by Israeli airstrikes on Beirut.

Australia's government has imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on five Iranians who contribute to the nation's missile defense program, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

She said that Iran's launch of at least 180 ballistic missiles against Israel on October 1 was "a dangerous escalation that increased the risk of a wider regional war."

The sanctions were imposed on two directors and a senior officer at Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization. The director of the Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group and the commercial director of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group were also targeted. 

The announcement brings the total number of Iran-linked people sanctioned by Australia to 200. 

"Australia will continue to hold Iran to account for its reckless and destabilizing actions," Wong said. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel would listen to the United States but make its own decisions based on national interest.

"‏We listen to the opinions of the United States, but we will make our final decisions based on our national interests," Netanyahu's office said in a statement that was first quoted by The Washington Post and later by news agencies including Reuters.

The statement comes amid anticipation that Israel will retaliate to Iran's missile strikes on October 1.

The Washington Post reported, citing two official sources familiar with the matter, that Netanyahu assured the US that Israel would rather strike Iran's military assets over its oil and nuclear facilities. 

The US is a steadfast supporter of Israel in its conflict with Hamas and now Hezbollah. However, President Joe Biden has warned Israel against striking Iran's energy facilities in order to avoid a further expansion of regional war and a spike in global energy prices.

The United Nations Security Council voiced "strong concern" over attacks on UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon days after at least five were wounded during fighting in the area.

The Security Council reiterated its support for the mission's role "in supporting regional security" after a session late on Monday in New York City.

It follows a series of incidents in which members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers in southern Lebanon were wounded by Israeli military fire, often at their designated posts.

In one notable incident on Sunday, two Israeli tanks burst through the gates of a UNIFIL base, the UN said. At least five peacekeepers were injured. Israel has rejected the UN's account of the incident.

Members called on all parties "to respect the safety and security of UNIFIL personnel and UN premises," said Switzerland's UN envoy Pascale Baeriswyl, who serves as the acting president of the Security Council.

"They recall that UN peacekeepers and UN premises must never be the target of an attack," he said. 

UNIFIL is tasked with supporting efforts to disarm militias, including Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon and help the Lebanese army keep control of the area close to the border with Israel. Israel has criticized the peacekeeping operation for failing to keep Hezbollah weapons and fighters out of this region, a key part of its mandate. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday repeated a call for UNIFIL troops to leave certain areas near the border during its military operations. He accused Hezbollah of using the UNIFIL forces as "human shields," staying in close proximity to them intentionally. 

But the peacekeeping force has repeatedly said it will stay in all of its posts. 

"A decision was made that UNIFIL will currently stay in all its positions, in spite of the calls that were made by the Israeli forces to vacate the positions that were in the vicinity of the blue line," said the UN's head of peacekeeping operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix.

mk/msh, zc (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)