US says Israeli steps to address humanitarian crisis in Gaza minor and insufficient

WASHINGTON — Since the US sent a letter to Israel warning that continued security assistance was at risk if it doesn’t take significant steps to improve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the measures Jerusalem has taken have been minor and insufficient, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.

While there has been some improvement in the number of delivery routes to aid, the uptick has been minor and the humanitarian “situation still remains at a level that we don’t find acceptable,” Miller says during a press briefing.

He says there continue to be breakdowns in communications between the IDF and aid agencies and issues in which approvals aren’t granted by the IDF for aid workers to operate throughout Gaza, or issues where authorizations are given but they aren’t transmitted to officers on the ground. There are also still Palestinian armed gangs that have been looting some of the aid coming into Gaza, Miller says.