US gives Israel 30 days to boost aid to Gaza

 Hello and welcome to today's verified live we start in the Middle East where tensions have Ratched it up again today with new threats from hezbollah's deputy chief who said since Israel has attacked anywhere in Lebanon we have the right to attack anywhere in Israel well in Lebanon UNICEF says more than 400,000 children have now been displaced 90% in the last 3 weeks as Israel continues its offensive against the Iranian back group 

Hezbollah 

we've also heard from the pentagons saying that an advanced team of military personnel and the initial components of an American missile defense system have arrived in Israel with more to be sent in the coming days meanwhile a Washington Post report suggests Benjamin Netanyahu has told President Biden Israel will not hit oil or nuclear sites in Iran but would Target military facilities instead that in retaliation of course to Tran's attack on Israel 2 weeks ago and one further development in the last half an hour it's emerged that the US has written to Israel's government giving it 30 days to urgently boost humanitarian 

Aid access in Gaza 

or face losing some US military assistance well let's talk to our correspondents on the ground W Davis is in Jerusalem Jonathan head is in Beirut our Gaza correspondent rushi Abu Alou is in Istanbul but let's start with Tom baitman who's in Washington and Tom tell us more about this letter first of all because grave concern amongst the US administ frustration about what is happening in Gaza yeah this has emerged in the last hour or so and what uh we have now confirmed are the contents of a letter uh that was reported by the journalist Barack Ravid written from uh the US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin to uh the Israeli government uh along with Lloyd Austin the US defense secretary both of those signed this letter and what it amounts to basically is a warning to the Israelis that if they don't rapidly improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza that they will face um or risk having some US military assistance cut off the language in this letter is very strong and as far as you know I can see this amounts to the strongest known written warning uh that the Americans have given to the Israelis ever since the start of the war in Gaza what it basically says is that it accuses the Israelis of having um denied 90% of humanitarian Aid movements

 

between North and South it says over the last month and all of this of course in the context of the current Israeli attack in uh military operation the assault in Northern Gaza now the Americans say that this is amounted to a series of evacuations which should have added to the numbers of people being forced into that narrow Coastal strip almasi um uh in Gaza and says that those people are now at high risk of contagion um and so it goes through a series of measures it wants the Israelis to do to let much more Aid in to to Surge Aid in it says ahead of the winter and if not it says that um they risk uh the implementation of a particular part of US law uh the foreign assistance act and a particular particular section in that which denies military assistance to any countries that prohibit the movement of American humanitarian Aid so a very significant warning

 I mean this letter has leaked um as I say the BBC has verified its contents but I expect we'll get more now from the Americans about exactly what they expect the Israelis to do over the coming days to assure them that what is happening in the north of Gaza um is going to you know there there will be rapid changes in the way that is being carried out the effect it's having on civilians and surging Aid into Gaza very interesting Tom let's go to Beirut and Jonathan head and Jonathan ear in the day of course we had new threats from hezbollah's deputy chief saying if this war continues with Israel there will be hundreds of thousands maybe even 2 million Israelis who be in the danger zone so uh again worrying sounds from Hezbollah yes we don't know exactly how badly hezbollah's military capacity has been damaged by these 3 weeks of really powerful Israeli raids but these statements I think were put out by the deputy leader of of hisbah more to kind of bring people in Lebanon on side people here are reeling from the massive humanitarian impact of this war some Lebanese blame hisbah almost as much as Israel uh for dragging them into it the hisbah deputy leader wanted to say look we are the Defenders of people of this country against the Israeli Invasion we are united with you that there will be Victory please be patient with us we will rebuild your homes but a lot of defiance too a message back to the Israelis saying don't count us out yes 

we have suffered he acknowledged that we've lost a lot of leaders but we can still inflict pain on you and of course Israel did suffer that drone strike over the weekend which showed that there are still significant capabilities with the hell forces let's go to Jerusalem and wah Davis wah give us the latest fromthe Israeli government because I referenced in the introduction that Washington Post report that apparent the Israelis have told the Biden Administration they will only target military sites in any Iranian Iranian strike what have the Prime Minister and others been saying in response to that report well first on on that issue of course Israel is fighting a conflict on two fronts in Lebanon as we've just heard and in Gaza but also there's the growing spec of what's going to happen now if Israel as promised responds uh in kind to that Iranian missile attack of of a few days ago Israel has made it clear it will response hasn't said how and when the Americans have urged Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear sites because of the impact that could have on a wider regional conflict if Israel were to attack uh Iran's petrochemical sites that might have an economic effect which could of course have an effect on the upcoming American elections but Mr Netanyahu has made it clear that Israel will act as it sees fit and when it sees fit so everybody here is waiting for that response how and when it will happen but it just shows uh this fractu relationship between the Americans and the Israelis America of Israel is of course entirely dependent on American military aid to prosecute this war but this letter that Tom was referring to is the strongest response we've had yet from the Americans that they're perhaps growing uneasy and impatient with the way that Israel is Prosecuting this war.

The Narrative this far is that uh Benjamin Netanyahu has been sometimes uh doing things as he sees fit despite American re Israeli Reliance on the Americans so we're it's interesting to see now if we're going to see a change in Israeli attitudes one thing for certain though is America is not going to pull a plug on Israel indeed in the last 24 hours uh an American high altitude missile defense system which will be manned by American troops that has begun to arrive in Israel and that is arriving here in anticipation of what Israel might do uh in the next few days Visa Iran and how Iran might respond to a very fluid situation here where thanks very much let's bring in rushi Abu ALU who is in Istanbul and of course monitoring what what is happening in Gaza you were listening there to Tom 

bitman and that letter because so much concern especially in the north of Gaza where only yesterday the first aid in the whole of October did actually get through but it's a dire situation isn't it yeah but the people said very little uh the aid that come yesterday comparing to what it used to be allowed in the last two like the last two months since October the the first uh no Aid were allowed into Northern Gaza where we believe about 300,000 people are stuck in their homes in uh jabalia refugee camp in the north surrounded by Israeli troops Under Siege suffering as as I managed to spoke to some of them today they said the market is running out of food uh water is not there electricity sewage is everywhere in the uh in the camp and they believe that the 30 trucks or so of flower that we allow yesterday isn't enough to uh feed uh 300,000 people I just want to give you a little uh bit of number before 7th of October we used to have about 500 trucks coming from Israel and Egypt into into Gaza and now we are as little as 80 to 70 70 to 80 trucks every day in in Gaza so people in the north are getting the most of the of the suffering but people in the South are not in a better situation because uh in in the South as well we have 2/3 or over 80% of the population in a very highly densely populated area called alasi near the coastal inan Unis and they all of them are also getting at 20 or 15 or 20% of what is needed for them so people there are hoping that this American pressure will increase the number of a trucks that coming into Gaza and we should remember that at this time of the year it's there's a Jewish holiday and already even before 7th of October there is always a delay in in delivering the aid into into Gaza before the war and it's now is impacting and and causing more problem for the people in Gaza because of the keeping keep the The Crossing cross during the Jewish holiday let's go back to Beirut and Jonathan head Jonathan just a quick word because in the last little while Italy's Prime Minister has made it clear that she plans to visit Lebanon on Friday also talking about that unifer uh um threat 

towards them saying any withdrawal from 

them would be a serious mistake what is 

your reading of of her visit to 

Lebanon well there's been almost 

unanimous well pretty much completely 

unanimous support for the unifil mission 

from the contributing countries Italy is 

a big contributor there are 49 in total 

um the UN has come out come down and 

said it will not accept being told by 

one member State Israel that it should 

leave its posts when it's carrying out a 

mandate that is supported by the entire 

United Nations security Council 

interestingly the US fully supports the 

UN Mission there as well so for all of 

Israel's many complaints that unifil has 

not stopped hisbah from rearming in that 

southern area U un says that's not 

actually its mandate it's there to 

enforce an agreement between the parties 

at the moment there's full support for 

the UN Mission and uh Israel warning 

them to get out of the way no agreement 

no sort of mey of Minds on that it looks 

like the UN is there to stay regardless 

of how tough the the the fights become 

between Israel and his bua forces 

Jonathan there we have to leave it 

thanks very much thanks to all of our 

correspondents joining us on the program 

there on the ground around.