Biden Administration Requests Clarification on Hamas-Fatah Election Partnership

A sign directing to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission in Gaza (Reuters)
A sign directing to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission in Gaza (Reuters)
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Biden Administration Requests Clarification on Hamas-Fatah Election Partnership

A sign directing to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission in Gaza (Reuters)
A sign directing to the Palestinian Central Elections Commission in Gaza (Reuters)

US President Joe Biden’s administration has asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for clarifications on the partnership with Hamas in the upcoming elections, according to a Channel 12 report.

The United States wants reassurances that any future Palestinian government will recognize Israel, renounce violence and uphold agreements and abide by them, the report added.

Neither the US administration nor the Palestinian Authority (PA) commented on the report, yet a well-informed source ruled out in remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat any dispute on the matter.

“Elections will be held under the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) sponsorship,” the source explained, stressing that the PLO is committed to all the agreements, in accordance to which the government will be formed.

“This is clear to everyone and to all the Palestinian factions. They all agreed not to give Israel any reason to prevent the elections from taking place or incite against the next government.”

The PA has officially resumed contacts with the new US administration.

It had cut relations with former US President Donald Trump’s administration for more than two years due to its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the punitive steps against Palestinians.

Contacts with Biden’s administration are carried out through Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr.

They earlier discussed means to restore Palestinian-US relations, especially the reopening of the PLO’s office in Washington and renewing US financial aid to the PA and the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Contact between the PA and new US administration has been expected in light of previous indirect communication through mediators.

The PA is hoping that the Biden administration would rectify the tense relations and advance a new peace process in the region.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said the upcoming elections are an existential issue that cannot be reversed.

“They pave the way for ending the division and leading to reconciliation,” he explained during a meeting with head of mission of the Office of the Quartet John Clarke in Ramallah.

He affirmed his country’s readiness for a serious political path based on international legitimacy and international law.

Both sides discussed the latest political developments and preparations for the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting, which will be held in New York on Feb. 23.

Clarke said the Quartet is ready to support the elections, accelerate efforts to restore bilateral relations with the US, and implement development projects, especially those targeting the energy and water sectors, with priority given to the Gaza Strip.



Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Help for Gaza

A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
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Aid Groups Say Israel Misses US Deadline to Boost Humanitarian Help for Gaza

A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)
A driver stands beside a truck part of a World Food Program (WFP) aid convoy passing through the Erez crossing on the border with the northern Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 11 November 2024. (EPA)

Israel has failed to meet US demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war, international aid organizations said Tuesday.

The Biden administration last month called on Israel to "surge" more food and other emergency aid into Gaza, giving it a 30-day deadline that was expiring Tuesday. It warned that failure to comply could trigger US laws requiring it to scale back military support as Israel wages offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has announced a series of steps toward improving the situation. But US officials recently signaled that Israel still isn’t doing enough, though they haven't said if they will take any action against it.

Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday that he was confident "the issue would be solved." The Biden administration may have less leverage after the reelection of Donald Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.

Tuesday's report, authored by eight international aid organizations, listed 19 measures of compliance with the US demands. It said that Israel had failed to comply with 15 and only partially complied with four.

An Oct. 13 letter signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel to, among other things, allow a minimum of 350 truckloads of goods to enter Gaza each day; open a fifth crossing into the besieged territory; allow people in Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before the winter; and ensure access for aid groups to hard-hit northern Gaza. It also called on Israel to halt legislation that would hinder the operations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

Despite Israeli steps to increase the flow of aid, levels remain far below the US benchmarks. The promised fifth crossing was set to open Tuesday, but residents remain crammed in the tent camps and access for aid workers to northern Gaza remains restricted. Israel also has pressed ahead with its laws against UNRWA.

"Israel not only failed to meet the US criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza," the report said. "That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago."

The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress, but needs to do more to meet the US conditions.

"What's important when you see all of these steps taken is what that means for the results," he said.

Israel launched a major offensive last month in northern Gaza, where it says Hamas fighters had regrouped. The operation has killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Israel has allowed almost no aid to enter the area, where tens of thousands of civilians have stayed despite evacuation orders.

Aid to Gaza plummeted in October, when just 34,000 tons of food entered, or less than half the previous month, according to Israeli data.

UN agencies say even less actually gets through because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness that makes it difficult to collect and distribute aid on the Gaza side.

In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, according to Israeli figures, and 81 a day in the first week of November. The UN puts the number lower, at 37 trucks daily since the beginning of October.

COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid to Gaza, said that the drop in the number of aid trucks in October was because of closures of the crossings for the Jewish high holidays and memorials marking the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the war.

"October was a very weak month," an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity in line with military briefing rules. "But if you look at the November numbers, we are holding steady at around 50 trucks per day to northern Gaza and 150 per day to the rest of Gaza."

Aid distribution is also being hampered by the UN and other agencies' failure to collect aid that entered Gaza, leading to bottlenecks, and looting from Hamas and organized crime families in Gaza, he said. He estimated as much as 40% of aid is stolen on some days.

Israel on Monday announced a small expansion of its coastal "humanitarian zone," where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in sprawling tent camps. It also has announced additional steps, including connecting electricity for a desalination plant in the central Gaza town of Deir al Balah, and efforts to bring in supplies for the winter.

On Tuesday, COGAT announced a "tactical" delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun, one of the hardest-hit towns in northern Gaza. Also on Monday night, the Israeli security Cabinet approved increased aid for Gaza, which will increase the number of trucks that enter Gaza each day, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The war began last year when Hamas-led gunmen stormed into southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250 people. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel's bombardment and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who don't say how many of those killed were fighters. Around 90% of the population has been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps, with little food, water or hygiene facilities.

The United States has rushed billions of dollars in military aid to Israel during the war and has shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, while pressing it to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The amount of aid entering Gaza increased under US pressure last spring after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers before dwindling again.

Trump has promised to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel during his previous term, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since his reelection last week.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Former US State Department official Charles Blaha, who ran the office in charge of ensuring that US military support complies with US and international law, predicted the Biden administration would find that Israel violated US law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza.

"It’s undeniable that Israel has done that," Blaha said. "They would really have to torture themselves to find that Israel hasn’t restricted ... assistance."

But he said that the administration would likely cite US national security interests and waive restrictions on military support.

"If the past is prologue — no restrictions, and then kick the can down the road to the next administration."