State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters the decision came as “Israel has taken a number of steps” outlined in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to Israeli counterparts last month.
“We continue to be in discussion with Israel about the steps they took and other steps they need to take,” he added.
An average of just over 30 trucks a day have been let into Gaza in recent weeks, representing “just over six percent of the daily needs”, according to Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations agency assisting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
“What is being allowed into Gaza is not enough,” he wrote Friday on X.
Before Israel launched its offensive in Gaza, around 500 trucks entered the enclave each day, according to the British Red Cross.
Tuesday’s deadline was set by Washington for Israel to meet a host of requirements aimed at boosting aid into Gaza or face restrictions on US military assistance, as required under US law. American spending on Israel’s military operations reached more than $17.9 billion from Oct. 7 last year to Sept. 30, according to Brown University’s Costs of War Project.
Over the weekend, the World Health Organization warned that northern Gaza in particular is at risk of imminent famine as the area falls under heavy Israeli bombardment.
Israel has continued its devastating aggression against the Gaza Strip since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 43,700 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 103,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory’s entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
