A Palestinian boy looks at destroyed shelters at the site of an Israeli airstrike which hit tents for displaced people two days earlier in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza on Wednesday — AFP GAZA, Oct 16 (Reuters/AFP): The United States has told Israel it must take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on US military aid, US officials said, in the strongest such warning since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote to Israeli officials on Sunday demanding concrete measures to address the worsening situation in the Palestinian enclave amid a renewed Israeli offensive in northern Gaza, US officials said on Tuesday.
Failure to do so could impact US policy, said the letter, which was first reported by Israeli News 12.
"We are particularly concerned that recent actions by the Israeli government ... are contributing to an accelerated deterioration in the conditions in Gaza," said a copy of the letter posted by an Axios reporter on X.
UK govt mulls
sanctioning Israeli
ministers: Starmer
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday the government was weighing up sanctions against far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Asked in parliament if the government would sanction the pair, Starmer said: "We are looking at that because there are obviously abhorrent comments along with other really concerning activity in the West Bank."
National Security Minister Smotrich and Ben Gvir, who is Finance Minister, are vocal supporters of settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
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