The US says Israel has not violated US aid embargo laws, after a 30-day deadline gave Israel to increase humanitarian access to Gaza or risk military aid being cut.
Officials said on Tuesday that Israel had taken several steps to address its demands for supplies to Gaza, but added that more progress was needed.
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel mentioned the opening of a new land crossing, and deliveries would resume in the north – although he did not say if anyone had entered the besieged Jabalia refugee camp.
Despite America’s claims, the UN has warned that the amount of aid entering Gaza is at its lowest level in a year.
A UN-backed report recently warned of a possible famine in northern Gaza, where no aid has arrived in the past month.
Joyce Msuya, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said international crimes are being committed in Gaza.
Ms Msuya briefed members of the United Nations council on Tuesday, reporting that Israeli authorities are blocking humanitarian aid from entering Northern Gaza, where fighting is ongoing.
He said there are 75,000 people left there and things are dwindling.
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave Israel 30 days to ensure that more aid trucks reach Gaza every day. That deadline expired on Tuesday.
A letter sent to the Israeli government calls for the country to end the blockade of the besieged northern areas, where aid groups warn that civilians are starving amid Israeli military attacks.
A group of eight humanitarian organizations said in fact, conditions had deteriorated since the letter was sent.
But the US response on Tuesday shows that Washington will continue to provide weapons to its allies, despite growing warnings from aid groups about civilians being killed and displaced by Israel’s attacks in the north.
The Israeli army, however, said it had been planning for a resurgence of Hamas in the region.
Israel says it has dramatically increased the amount of aid flowing into Gaza, and accuses aid agencies of failing to deliver enough.
In Beit Hanoun, which has been besieged for more than a month, Ms. Msuya said that food and water reached the shelters only on Monday so that the Israeli army forcibly evicted people from those areas on Tuesday.
Ilze Kehris, assistant secretary-general for human rights at the UN, said the pattern and timing of Israeli attacks suggest systematic targeting of civilians.
Most of the death and destruction was caused by US weapons, which were given to Israel to help fight Hamas.
Israel launched a campaign to destroy Hamas after the group attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left around 1,200 people dead; Another 251 were captured.
Since then, more than 43,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry run by Hamas in the area.
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