US says Israel needs to do more to allow fuel, aid into Gaza

The United States on Tuesday said Israel needed to do more to allow fuel and other aid into Gaza as its offensive against Hamas in the southern part of the enclave intensified.

“There is not enough being done right now,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a news briefing. “The level of assistance that’s getting in is not sufficient. It needs to go up, and we’ve made that clear to the government of Israel,” Miller said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his third trip to the Middle East since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, last week pressed the Israeli government to increase the flow of aid to Gaza and to minimize civilian harm in its offensive.

Israeli forces stormed southern Gaza’s main city of Khan Younis on Tuesday, and hospitals struggled to cope with scores of Palestinian dead and wounded.

In what appeared to be the biggest ground assault in Gaza since a truce with Hamas unraveled last week, Israel said its troops – who were backed by warplanes – had reached the heart of Khan Younis and were surrounding the city.

A World Health Organization official in Gaza said on Tuesday the situation was deteriorating by the hour.