ammonnews.net

Ammon News - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday that Israel has so far taken insufficient steps to get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, and he asked it to work to improve the situation, a senior State Department official said.

Blinken held "extended conversations" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza with Netanyahu and other senior Israeli leaders, who committed to act upon the U.S. requests, said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The top U.S. diplomat is in Israel as part of a wider week-long Middle East tour. An Israeli readout on the meeting did not mention humanitarian issues.

This month, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote a letter to Israeli leaders, demanding they take more take steps in the next month to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza or face potential restrictions on U.S. military aid. It was one of the strongest such warnings since Israel's war with Hamas began a year ago.

"The steps that they have taken thus far have not been sufficient and we made that clear today that we do need to see more," the official said.

"They committed to us that they are acting upon our requests and doing everything that they can to meet them. We take those commitments seriously but it is the results that matter," the official said.

The assurances that the U.S. official mentioned were absent in an Israeli statement on the Blinken-Netanyahu meeting. A State Department readout on the meeting said Blinken emphasized the need for Israel to boost humanitarian aid, while the Israeli readout did not mention humanitarian issues at all.

The amount of aid entering Gaza has plummeted to its lowest level all year, according to U.N. data. In addition, the U.N. has said Israel has been denying and impeding dozens of attempts this month to deliver aid, particularly to Gaza's north.

Reuters