Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said the United States wants “results” following news that Israel will open more avenues for aid flows into Gaza.
Israel's decision to allow aid to flow in through the new route comes as President Biden said in a phone call with the Israeli prime minister on Thursday that U.S. assistance to Israel depends on next steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in the enclave. This was done after he had clearly stated that he was there.
Blinken on Friday called Israel's agreement to establish new aid routes a “positive development,” but he soon questioned whether the U.S. would make it a priority for Israel to allow more aid to the enclave. He added that he was “trying to determine.” He said one measure of Israel's efforts would be “the number of trucks that are actually sustained.”
“The real test is the results, which we hope to see in the coming days and weeks,” he told a press conference in Brussels on Friday. “In fact, the proof is in the results. ” he added.
As the United Nations warns that famine is looming, Israel is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials and humanitarian agencies to increase its entry into Gaza to provide aid.
President Biden ramped up the pressure on Thursday in a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with future U.S. aid to Israel dependent on how he addresses the prime minister's concerns about the high civilian death toll and widespread hunger. said.
Hours later, the Israeli government announced additional support routes, including through the port of Ashdod and the Erez crossing, a checkpoint between Israel and northern Gaza.
“I asked them to do what they're doing,” Biden told reporters Friday.
But the Israeli statement provided few details, and it was not immediately clear when those new routes would open or how much aid could pass through them. Additionally, most of the aid is currently stored in Egypt on the other side of the coastal enclave, potentially creating logistical obstacles to moving aid through the Erez border crossing into northern Gaza. Highly sexual.
Aid officials also welcomed the news cautiously, saying they needed to wait and see how and when new measures would come into effect.
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, said the news about expanded aid channels was positive. “But of course we have to see how this is implemented,” he added.
The World Food Program said Friday that it will seek to clarify “security and logistics arrangements with Israeli authorities so that they can move quickly to take advantage of new opportunities to feed more Gazans.” announced. when hunger spreads. ”
And German Foreign Minister Annalena Verbock echoed calls from humanitarian groups for the Israeli government to “quickly” implement new measures.
“No more excuses,” she wrote to X.
European Council President Charles Michel said the new measures were simply “insufficient” and that “urgent efforts are needed to end hunger immediately”.
“Children and infants in Gaza are dying from malnutrition,” he wrote to X.
Since the start of the war, Israel has confined aid to Gaza to two tightly controlled border crossings in the enclave's south, Kerem Shalom and Rafah.
Most of Gaza's international aid passes through an Egyptian warehouse near El Arish, not far from the city of Rafah, which straddles the border with Gaza. Some aid is also being delivered through channels other than Jordan.
Trucks carrying aid from El Arish normally undergo security checks in Rafah on the Egyptian side of the border.
Aid agencies face challenges at every step of the distribution process, from lengthy Israeli inspections at border crossings to violence during distribution to Palestinians inside the Gaza Strip.
Israeli checks on goods entering Gaza are aimed at weeding out items that could be used by Hamas. Aid officials say the inspection process is causing significant delays, but Israel blames the bottlenecks on disruption by humanitarian groups and diversion of shipments by Hamas.
Blinken said Friday that the U.S. would look to see if “border bottlenecks and other delays are resolved.”
The worst shortages are in northern Gaza, where hungry people are flocking to food trucks and aid groups say they are struggling to get supplies due to Israeli restrictions and widespread illegality. .
Matina Stevis-Gridnev, Gaya gupta and Jonathan Rees Contributed to the report.
