US urges Israel to increase aid flow to Gaza amid escalating conflict

• The US presses Israel for increased aid to Gaza amid intensified conflict.
• Blinken urges Israel to boost aid and reduce civilian casualties.
• WHO in Gaza warns of a worsening situation.

As Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the southern sections of the Palestinian enclave intensified, the United States said on Tuesday that Israel had to do more to permit gasoline and other help into Gaza.

“The level of assistance that’s getting in is not sufficient,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing. “It needs to go up, and we’ve made that clear to the government of Israel.”

According to the UN, over 69,000 gallons of fuel and 100 humanitarian relief vehicles arrived in Gaza from Egypt on

Monday, roughly matching the amount that arrived on Sunday.

“This is well below the daily average of 170 trucks and 110,000 liters of fuel that had entered during the humanitarian pause that took place between 24 and 30 November,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Tuesday.

During his third trip to the Middle East since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel, US Secretary of State Antony

Blinken this week urged the Israeli government to step up aid flow and reduce injuries to civilians during its battle against Hamas.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces overran Khan Younis, the capital of southern Gaza, leaving hospitals unable to handle the large number of wounded and dead Palestinians.

Israel reported that its troops, supported by jets, had reached the center of Khan Younis and were encircling the city in what looked to be the largest ground assault in Gaza since a ceasefire with Hamas broke down last week.

According to a World Health Organization representative in Gaza on Tuesday, things are getting worse by the hour.

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