By JULIA FRANKEL, SAMY MAGDY and JACK JEFFERY

JERUSALEM (AP) — The USA decided not to punish Israel about the dire humanitarian situation we are in Gaza Strip after issuing an ultimatum to increase aid entering the region. But flows of food, medicine and other supplies to Palestinians are still at near-minimal levels. The entire 13-month war.

The White House last month gave Israel 30 days to improve conditions or risk losing military support. As the deadline expired on Tuesday, leading international aid groups said Israel had fallen far short.

However, the US State Department announced that it would not take any punitive action, saying that Israel had made limited progress. But he called for further action.

Aid groups accuse the Israeli army of obstructing or even obstructing shipments in Gaza. Nearly the entire population of about 2.3 million Palestinians relies on international aid to survive, and doctors and aid groups say malnutrition is widespread. Food security experts say famine may already have begun in hard-hit northern Gaza.

FILE – Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE – Palestinians gather at the site of the Israeli attack in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Hospital, where displaced people live in tents, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on November 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana) , File)

FILE – Palestinians line up to receive aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency that assists Palestinian refugees, in the Nusayrat refugee camp in Gaza on November 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

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FILE – Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip on October 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

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“It’s really frustrating because by almost every objective measure, all the agencies are saying that the humanitarian situation has worsened within the time frame that the United States has specified,” Aseel Baidoun, a senior executive at the aid group Medical Aid to Palestinians, said on Wednesday.

“Even though we presented all the evidence that there was a risk of famine… the United States still miraculously finds that Israel did not violate humanitarian law.”

Israel, which controls all crossings into Gaza, says it is committed to providing humanitarian aid and is striving to increase aid. COGAT, the military agency responsible for aid transit, said last month it had taken a number of steps to increase the amount entering the area, including the opening of a fifth crossing into central Gaza this week. Israel says the UN and international aid groups need to do a better job distributing supplies.

Where do the aid levels stand?

Aid to Gaza is generally measured by truckloads of food and supplies entering the region. US requested 350 trucks per day; This figure is still below the pre-war level of 500 trucks per day.

Aid inflows in October fell to their lowest level since the first month of the war. Israeli government figures show an average of 57 trucks enter per day. The average has risen to 100 per day so far in November; This is slightly lower than the same month last year.

But the UN says even fewer have logged in. It is stated that an average of 39 trucks have been received per day since the beginning of October. This is largely because Israel says it cannot reach the main southern choke point to collect cargo due to military restrictions and lawlessness.

The UN says almost no food or other aid has reached the northernmost part of Gaza since the beginning of October. That’s when the Israeli army launched a major offensive against Hamas fighters in the Jabaliya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun areas, cutting off their roads. Hamas is defined as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Israel says the drop in aid in October was due to its closure of crossings into Gaza during Jewish holidays. It said deliveries to the far north could not be allowed in October due to conflict.

COGAT authorized two deliveries to the far north this month under international pressure.

But very few of them reached me. Last week, the World Food Program said troops on the ground had instructed their trucks to unload their cargo before reaching their destination. In another planned shipment on Monday, WFP was only able to deliver three of 14 trucks due to delays in obtaining movement permits from soldiers. When he tried to hand over the rest the next day, he said the army wouldn’t let him.

Passage and denial of entry

One reason for the huge difference between the number of Israeli and UN aid trucks entering Gaza: Hundreds of truckloads are piled up on the Gaza side of the main southern crossing point and are not collected for distribution by the UN.

Israel accuses UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, of not doing enough to get the cargo back.

The UN and aid groups say they have been unable to reach the border crossing because the Israeli army has not always been able to coordinate safe passage amid military operations and widespread lawlessness in the region.

“If we are not given safe passage to go and get help (assistance), it is not possible for us to get it. And it will not reach the people who need it,” said UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Wateridge.