US not taking ‘foot off the gas pedal' in pressing Israel to get humanitarian aid into Gaza: Pentagon

​​​​​​​By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US will continue to press Israel to get humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

"We're not going to take our foot off the gas pedal here when it comes to working with the Israelis to increase the amount of aid flowing into Gaza," spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters.

"Some progress" has been made by Israel, he said, after defense chief Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter last month to their counterparts to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza within 30 days or risk an American arms embargo.

"More needs to be done," said Ryder, adding that the US would continue to have conversations with its Israeli partners to see an uptick.

"We also believe that had that letter not been sent, had those conversations not been had, we wouldn't have seen the kind of progress that we're seeing now," he said.

It is "critical" that additional aid get to the people in Gaza, the spokesman reiterated.

Israel has continued a devastating offensive against Gaza since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, in October 2023, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

Nearly 43,700 people have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and more than 103,000 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

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