Axios quoted American and Israeli officials as saying that the administration of US President Joe Biden gave Israel a deadline to sign a letter committing it to international law when using American weapons.

Officials confirmed that the deadline expires in mid-March, and includes Israel allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. They added that if Israel does not provide guarantees by the specified date, American arms transfers to it will stop.

According to the website, the deadline came after members of the US Senate expressed their concern about the use of weapons against civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Axios explained that the aforementioned guarantees have now become a requirement under a memorandum issued by President Biden earlier this February, and although it does not specifically concern Israel, the new policy came after some Democratic senators expressed their concerns about the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.

The website quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the United States has set to obtain written guarantees from Israel by mid-next March so that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken can ratify them by the end of the same month.

The official pointed out that the letter did not specify the Israeli party that must sign the guarantees, and that Tel Aviv gets to decide who will sign the letter in the government.

In turn, an American official said that similar messages had been sent in recent days to many other countries that use American weapons, according to what Axios reported.

Mounting pressures

Yesterday, Tuesday, Reuters reported from officials in the Democratic Party and the White House that the election campaign of US President Joe Biden was surprised by the extent of anger and frustration within the party over Washington’s support for Israel in its war on Gaza and other issues.

The agency also quoted a senior adviser to Biden's election campaign as saying that the party was harmed by its support for Israel in a way that was more than expected.

In a lengthy report that highlighted the escalation of protests within the Democratic Party 9 months before the presidential elections, American officials said that anger over Biden’s handling of the Gaza war may lead to a decline in support for him.

The agency noted the escalation of calls from activists in the Democratic Party not to vote for Biden in the presidential elections, during which he is supposed to face the potential Republican Party nominee, Donald Trump.

The report indicated that anger at Biden's policies, especially with regard to his support for Israel in its war on Gaza and his refusal to call for a permanent ceasefire, is rising among young people and Americans of Arab and African descent.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving about 30,000 martyrs, most of them children and women, and more than 70,000 injured, in addition to massive destruction of infrastructure, vital facilities, and hospitals.

Source: Al Jazeera + American press