Executive summary
Despite intensive diplomatic engagement by the United States and other countries, Israel has consistently failed to uphold its legal obligation to facilitate adequate humanitarian relief for civilians in Gaza during its ongoing military operation there. People are being starved in Gaza: Israeli military operations have denied them critical food aid and basic necessities, which has, in turn, caused conditions approaching famine for 800,000 Palestinian civilians across Gaza. Conditions are worst in Gaza’s north, where Israel launched a major operation in October that has cut off humanitarian aid to the area.
On 13 October 2024, the U.S. Secretaries of State and Defense issued a letter demanding that Israel make concrete progress within 30 days on measures to reverse the spiraling humanitarian situation. These demands align with U.S. legal requirements under Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act, which requires that the President halt security assistance to any foreign government that restricts U.S. humanitarian aid. These are legislative requirements that will outlast specific Biden administration policies or initiatives, like the 13 October letter, and will apply to the incoming administration under President-elect Trump. These requirements are also germane to other countries’ engagement with the Israeli government: these concrete metrics, demonstrating its failure to comply with U.S. law, underscores its failure to meet its obligations under international humanitarian law as well.
This scorecard provides an independent assessment of Israel’s compliance with those concrete metrics, and by extension its compliance with U.S. and international law. The humanitarian community urges the U.S. government and other governments to hold Israel accountable for its legal obligations, emphasising that non-compliance should have significant consequences for bilateral security relationships, including suspending the transfer of lethal arms. As this report makes clear, Israel is violating its legal obligations with impunity, at enormous human cost for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
