UPDATE - US working on maritime corridor for Gaza aid: White House

REVISES DECK, ADDS MORE REMARKS FROM NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US is working to open up a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the White House said Tuesday.

"As President (Joe) Biden has said, this will be part of a sustained effort with our international partners to scale up the amount of lifesaving aid that we're getting into Gaza,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said told reporters.

"And as I said last week, we're exploring other channels to get aid into Gaza, including a maritime route. To that end, we're looking at both military and commercial options to move assistance by sea. There's still an awful lot of work that's being done on this to flesh it out," he added.

The US will continue to urge Israel to facilitate the entry of more trucks and the creation of more routes, opening up more crossings so more aid can get to people in need, he added.

Kirby said the US conducted another airdrop of humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

"Three US C-130s dropped 60 bundles with a total of more than 36,000 meals ready to eat. We were joined in this endeavor by several Jordanian aircraft as well," he added.

Kirby stressed that "the best and most efficient way" to get aid to people in a confined space like that is on the ground.

"Yes, you can move more volume in ships, whether they're military or commercial ships. But eventually, that stuff has to get ashore and has to get loaded on to vehicles and then trucked in. So the trucks are the best way to do that, and that's why we've been working so hard to try to increase the flow," he added.

He said Cyprus could potentially be used as part of the maritime corridor.

"The maritime route, yes, it can move more volume at sea, but it also is going to require a heavier logistics lift and some infrastructure ashore and is very much going to need the support of allies and partners. And so those discussions are ongoing," he said.