Name: Deadline to improve Gaza humanitarian situation expires | BBC News
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A U.S. deadline set 30 days ago for Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza expires on Tuesday.

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The United Nations says Israel hasn't done nearly enough to meet the American demands, which include allowing more aid in, evacuating the sick and critically injured and limiting civilian casualties.

Israel has crossed many of America's red lines before during the course of its war against Hamas, with few consequences.

So how might the U.S. respond now in the dying days of the Biden presidency?

Israel doesn't allow international journalists uncontrolled access to Gaza.

Our correspondent in Jerusalem, John Donison, looks now at to what extent things have improved in Gaza since the U.S. deadline was set.

A month ago, America once again demanded Israel take the number of civilian casualties.

The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed in the last 30 days.

In the bag is the five-year-old's auntie.

His uncle, their children and Nizar's sister, Khaloud, were also killed when Israel attacked a school housing displaced families in central Gaza.

Israel's military says it was targeting Hamas.

God is all we need, cries Baraa, Nizar's brother.

There is food in Gaza, if you can get your bread, if you can afford it.

If it were not for the soup kitchen, we would have starved to death.

On Gaza's northern border, this is Zakim.

But Israel has reopened a number of crossings to allow aid in, as the US requested.

America demanded that by now, Israel should be getting a minimum of at least 350 trucks of aid into Gaza every day.

But over the past month, the United Nations says the average has been only just over 40 trucks a day.

Israel does not allow international journalists free access to Gaza.

But I spoke to the main UN aid agency there.

We've got this deadline set by the United States.

For more than a year, Israel has crossed most of America's red lines.

But in the dying days of the Biden presidency, and with more than 43,000 Palestinian lives lost, it's unlikely the White House will put its foot down and cut off arms supplies.

We can talk to our correspondent, Joe Inwood, who's in Jerusalem live for us.

Joe, Israel says it's meeting the US's conditions for aid going into Gaza.

Is there any sense there that Israeli officials are worried about the consequences?

I think if the Americans decided to pull that big lever that they've got that John was talking about there and cut off arms shipments, then, yes, they would be very worried indeed.

But as John was mentioning, there is no indication that that is a lever that the U.S. government is going to pull.

They have used arms shipments slightly in the past to influence Israeli decisions.

Back in May, they said they were going to stop providing the most powerful bombs, 2,000-pound and 1,000-pound bombs, because of concerns over civilian casualties.

But they didn't cut off arms supplies entirely.

And they still provided smaller weapons, 500-pound bombs.

So, I think it's be very unlikely that the American government would do that.

We should say that the Israelis have always maintained and do maintain that the situation has improved.

But, as you were saying, that is not really borne out by the data that we get from the United Nations about the number of trucks going in.

They say about 40 a day went in on average over the last 30 days since that letter was sent.

Now, compare that to the 350 the Americans say are needed, or the 500 to 600 that went in before this war started.

And the consequences of that we see in the north of Gaza.

It's the north where the fighting is fiercest, where Israel is focusing its military efforts.

And it's there that the United Nations recently, 15 heads of various humanitarian organizations, warned that conditions were apocalyptic.

President Biden's meeting Israeli President Isaac Herzog later.

How much does the impending change of the U.S. administration affect what Israel is thinking and its actions?

So, Israel was certainly pleased, or public opinion here was pleased to see the arrival of President Trump rather than President Harris.

People thought he would be good for the country.

But it is worth pointing out that the U.S. administration, although it has been critical in what it said, has stood pretty much full square behind Israel in terms of arms supplies.

And I don't think anyone thinks that's going to change with the Trump administration.

But as ever with Donald Trump and foreign policy, it's worth pointing out that he is very uncertain.

His language has been very supportive of Israel.

But he's also said he wants to see an end to this war.

He's reported to have said he wants to see the end to the war by the time he takes office on the 20th of January.

So, it could be that the Israelis think they've got a more supportive in rhetoric president coming in, but one who actually might force their hand a bit faster.

In terms of this meeting, we haven't got a readout of what's going to be discussed today.

 But I think we could take a fair guess that the letter, the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the ongoing fighting is going to be on the agenda.