TEHRAN- The United States has thrown its full political and military weight behind Israel since the regime launched war on Gaza more than a year ago.

The administration of President Joe Biden has blocked several resolutions against Israel’s brutalities at the UN Security Council in the wake of its genocidal war on Gaza which began on October 7, 2023.

Besides the $3.8 billion of military aid that Israel receives from the US annually, the White House has also provided the regime with additional weapons worth billions of dollars. 

According to US media, Israel has used American bombs in its strikes against Gaza making Washington complicit in the atrocities perpetrated in the enclave. 

Israel has butchered more than 42,400 Palestinians, including some 17,000 children since launching its brutal military campaign in Gaza in October last year. 

The 30-day ultimatum issued by the White House for Israel to enhance Palestinian access to basic necessities like food serves as a diversion from the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The US role in feeding Israel’s killing machine in Gaza has further come under scrutiny since the regime carried out a ground incursion into northern Gaza nearly two weeks ago. 

Reports suggest that 400,000 Palestinians have been trapped in northern Gaza. Israel has issued evacuation orders but its snipers target people who want to flee. 

The regime has carried out massacres in northern Gaza, isolated the region and banned the entry of food and other essentials. 

The United Nations has announced that no food aid has been delivered to the north, and supplies essential for survival are running out for Palestinians there.

On Tuesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that families in northern Gaza were "facing unimaginable fear, loss of loved ones, confusion, and exhaustion" because of the Israeli invasion. 

The Israeli military has sent tanks and troops to northern Gaza, in particular in the town of Jabalia and its urban refugee camp under the pretext of fighting the Hamas resistance movement. 

Israel stands accused of starving Palestinians in northern Gaza and trying to ethnically cleanse the region. 

The Israeli brutalities have led to growing pressure on the United States, which is Tel Aviv’s main Western ally. 
 

Political ploy

In order to ease pressure, the Biden administration sent a letter to the Benjamin Netanyahu cabinet on Monday giving it 30 days to boost humanitarian aid access in Gaza or risk having some US military assistance cut off.

The letter has been jointly written by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

It has been addressed to Israeli war minister Yoav Gallant and Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer. 

The letter says the US has deep concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, acknowledging that Israel denied or impeded nearly 90% of humanitarian movements between the north and south last month.

It also calls on Israel to end the "isolation of northern Gaza" by reaffirming that there will be "no Israeli policy of forced evacuation of civilians" from north to south. 

US charm offensive 

The letter is in line with the charm offensive of the Biden administration towards Palestinians to appease domestic opposition to unwavering support for the Netanyahu regime.

White House officials have openly criticized the Israeli carnage in Gaza but the transfer of weapons has continued unabated. 

Democrats fear that discontent over the White House’s support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza could result in Kamala Harris, the vice-president and party nominee, facing defeat against Donald Trump in the November presidential poll. 

Many Arab American voters, who can play a key role in determining the fate of the upcoming election, remain critical of Biden’s pro-Israel bias. 

For now, it is clear that the US letter is just aimed at diverting attention from Israel’s massacres in Gaza, particularly in the north. 

The United States claims that Israel has the right to defend itself and provides it with lethal weapons. 

But Washington merely employs hollow rhetoric to placate both domestic and international outrage regarding the pain and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Such an approach is indicative of the fact that the US administration is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the anti-war voters while attempting to save face regarding its involvement in Israel’s atrocious crimes in Gaza.