Jerusalem (AP) – Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month war, international aid organizations said Tuesday.

The Biden administration last month called on Israel to “bring in” more food and other emergency aid to the Palestinian territory, giving it a 30-day deadline that expires on Tuesday. The administration has warned that failure to comply could trigger US laws requiring it to cut military support as Israel mounts offensives against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has announced a series of steps to improve the situation. But U.S. officials have recently signaled that Israel is still not doing enough, though they have not said whether they will take any action.

Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, appeared to downplay the deadline, telling reporters on Monday that he was confident “the issue will be resolved.” The Biden administration may have less leverage after the re-election of Donald Trump, who was a staunch supporter of Israel in his first term.

Tuesday’s report, written by eight international aid organizations, listed 19 measures to comply with US demands. It said Israel had failed to comply with 15 and had only partially complied with four.

An October 13 letter signed by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called on Israel, among other things, to allow a minimum of 350 truckloads of goods into Gaza each day; opens a fifth passage into the besieged territory; allow people from Israeli-imposed coastal tent camps to move inland before winter; and ensure access for aid groups to hard-hit northern Gaza. It also called on Israel to halt legislation that would hamper the operations of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA.

Following the publication of the report, the Israeli military announced the opening of a fifth crossing on Tuesday near the Gaza city of Deir al Balah. It will allow the delivery of supplies to the central and southern regions of the territory.

Despite Israeli measures to increase the flow of aid, levels remain well below US benchmarks. Also, residents are still crammed into tent camps, aid workers’ access to northern Gaza remains limited, and Israel has continued with laws against UNRWA.

“Not only has Israel failed to meet US criteria that would indicate support for the humanitarian response, but it has simultaneously taken actions that have dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza,” the report said. “This situation is in an even worse state today than it was a month ago.”

The report was co-signed by Anera, Care, MedGlobal, Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam, Refugees International and Save the Children.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that Israel had made some progress but needed to do more to meet US conditions.

“What’s important when you see all these steps taken is what that means for the results,” he said.

Israel launched a major offensive last month in northern Gaza, where it says Hamas militants have regrouped. The operation killed hundreds of people and displaced tens of thousands. Israel has allowed almost no aid to enter the area, where tens of thousands of civilians remain despite evacuation orders.

Aid to Gaza fell in October, with just 34,000 tonnes of food coming in, or less than half of the previous month, according to Israeli data.

UN agencies say even fewer actually get through because of Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and lawlessness that make it difficult to collect and distribute aid from Gaza.

In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, according to Israeli figures, and 81 a day in the first week of November. The UN is dropping the number to 37 trucks a day since early October.

COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for humanitarian aid to Gaza, said the drop in aid trucks in October was due to the closure of crossing points for Jewish high holidays and memorials marking the anniversary of October 7, 2023, the Hamas attack that triggered the war.

“October was a very weak month,” an Israeli official said on condition of anonymity under military information rules. “But if you look at the numbers since November, we’re holding steady at about 50 trucks a day in northern Gaza and 150 a day in the rest of Gaza.”

Aid distribution is also hampered by the failure of the UN and other agencies to collect aid that has entered Gaza, leading to blockades and theft by Hamas and Gaza’s organized crime families, he said. He estimated that up to 40 percent of aid is stolen on some days.

Israel on Monday announced a small expansion of its coastal “humanitarian zone,” where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter in tented camps. It also announced further steps, including connecting electricity for a desalination plant in the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah and efforts to bring in supplies for the winter.

On Tuesday, COGAT announced a “tactical” delivery of food and water to Beit Hanoun, one of the worst-hit towns in northern Gaza. Also late Monday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved increased aid to Gaza, which will increase the number of trucks entering Gaza each day, according to an official familiar with the matter.

The war began last year when Hamas-led militants swept into southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 people. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion have killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to local health authorities, who did not say how many of those killed were militants. About 90 percent of the population has been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are packed into squalid tent camps with little food, water or sanitation.

The United States gave billions of dollars in military aid to Israel during the war and shielded it from international calls for a ceasefire, while pushing to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The amount of aid flowing into Gaza increased under US pressure last spring after Israeli strikes killed seven aid workers before tapering off again.

Trump has promised to end the wars in the Middle East without saying how. He was a staunch defender of Israel during his previous term, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they have spoken three times since his re-election last week.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

Former US State Department official Charles Blaha, who led the office tasked with ensuring US military support complies with US and international law, predicted the Biden administration would find that Israel had broken US law by blocking humanitarian aid from reaching Palestinians in Gaza.

“It is undeniable that Israel did this,” Blaha said. “They would really have to torture themselves to discover that Israel did not restrict … assistance.”

But he said the administration would likely invoke US national security interests and waive restrictions on military support.

“If the past is prologue, no holds barred, then kick the can down the road to the next administration.”

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.

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