US knows ‘not enough’ aid getting in Gaza: Pentagon

​​​​​​​WASHINGTON

The US is aware that “not enough” aid is getting into the Gaza Strip, a Pentagon official said Thursday.

“We know how dire the humanitarian situation is in Gaza, and that’s why every single day, not just here at this department, but the interagency, continues to work with our Israeli partners to get more aid in, because we know not enough is getting in,” spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

A deadline was set by Washington in an Oct. 13 letter for Israel to ramp up access to aid within 30 days in the besieged Palestinian enclave or risk US military aid.

Eight humanitarian aid organizations said in a statement that Israel has failed to meet the criteria set out by the US to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Singh said Israel opened aid crossings into Gaza “because of the pressure that the United States has put on Israel.”

“I don’t think it’s fair to say that our pressure isn’t working. It is. But can more be done? Yeah, absolutely,” she added.

Singh said that “not enough has been done in Gaza,” but the US would continue to urge a cease-fire and more humanitarian aid to get into the enclave.

The US would continue to work with its Israeli partners and continue “to push that they move … civilians out of the battle space, because that is a grave concern for the United States,” she said.

Israel has continued its devastating offensive against Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7, 2023. The onslaught has killed more than 43,700 people and rendered the enclave almost uninhabitable.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

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