From: The Washington Post November 12, 2024
U.S aid to Israel

U.S. won’t withhold aid to Israel, walking back threat over conditions in Gaza as deadline for Gaza aid surge passes

The United States will not withhold military aid from Israel, the State Department said Tuesday, after top Biden administration officials warned a month ago that they would consider doing so if the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza did not improve.

State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said there would be no change to U.S. policy at the end of the 30-day deadline the U.S. set for Israel to improve conditions in Gaza.

Aid groups and U.N. officials say Israel has largely failed to comply with U.S. demands, a Washington Post analysis found.

Patel said “some steps” have been taken by Israel to improve the situation, adding that the U.S. believed those improvements would not have come if it weren’t for the Biden administration.

Still, he added that “additional steps” were necessary. “Nobody in this administration saying that the humanitarian situation in Gaza is pristine,” Patel said. “It continues to be a crisis.”

Herzog and Biden meeting
Israeli President Isaac Herzog met with President Joe Biden at the White House.
In a social media post, Herzog thanked Biden on behalf of Israel.

Dermer and Trump meeting
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close political adviser of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, an Israeli official told The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with the media.

CENTCOM strikes in Syria
U.S. forces carried out strikes in Syria on Monday against nine targets in two locations, targeting “Iranian backed groups” in response to attacks on U.S. personnel, Central Command said.