Blinken says Israel making progress in answering UN needs for aid deliveries

By Jacob Magid

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27 June 2024, 10:52 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) and UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, speak to the media prior to meetings at the State Department in Washington, DC, June 27, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, “we’ve seen over the last couple of days some progress in Israel committing to address” the UN’s needs for effectively delivering humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza.

Aid has been piling up on the Gaza side of the border, with humanitarian agencies saying it’s too dangerous to deliver due to lawlessness along with ongoing Israeli military operations.

Blinken tells reporters upon welcoming the UN’s Gaza humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag at the State Department that he addressed these issues with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when the latter was in Washington earlier this week.

“It’s good and important that Israel is addressing these very concrete needs, but they have to be implemented as quickly as possible. There is no time to lose,” he says.