Important Takeaways:

• The US has issued a stark ultimatum to Israel, warning it must relax restrictions on the flow of aid into and around Gaza lest it face being cut off from arms imports.
• The threat, delivered in a letter penned by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, constitutes Washington’s strongest warning to Israel over the worsening humanitarian situation in the Palestine enclave.
• Washington’s top diplomat cited the strict controls Israel is imposing, including ‘burdensome and excessive’ restrictions on import materials and the denial of most humanitarian movements between northern and southern Gaza.
• ‘Failure to demonstrate a sustained commitment to implementing and maintaining these measures may have implications for US policy… and relevant US law,’ the letter concluded, citing a section of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits military aid to countries that impede the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
• It comes at a time when the threat of escalation in the Middle East appears at an all-time high.

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