US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared on Monday that Washington was making significant efforts to increase the quantity of supplies that reaches Gaza's stranded residents.Blinken and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had a 2.5-hour one-on-one meeting in Ankara during which they discussed strategies for reducing the humanitarian damage caused by the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Before boarding an aircraft for Japan, Blinken told reporters, "We are working, as I said, very aggressively on getting more humanitarian assistance into Gaza and we have very concrete ways of doing that."
Without going into specifics, he stated, "I think we will see in the days ahead that the assistance can expand in significant ways."
After a fast-paced tour of the Middle East, where he heard a chorus of Arab demands for an early ceasefire, Blinken arrived in Turkey.
A "pause could help" to guarantee that more aid reaches civilians, according to the top US official.
The horrible toll in Gaza and its civilian population is well known to us here in Turkey. It is a worry we share and one that we are striving to address on a daily basis. We discuss with the Israelis the actions they may take to reduce the number of civilian deaths, Blinken stated.