The US government is taking a wait-and-see approach to Israel's commitments to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.
"So what we're focused on now is making sure that the commitments that Israel has made to do more, to do more effectively, and to put that in place ... actually happens ... is sustained, and ... produces results," Blinken said at a joint press conference in Washington with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
"We want to do everything we can but principally we want to see Israel do everything it can - and must - to reduce the impact on civilians, to get assistance to those who need it [and] to do it on a sustained basis," Blinken added.
Israel, which has been fighting the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas since October, has been heavily criticized internationally for restricting humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.
Aid organizations warn that the situation is catastrophic, especially in the north of the sealed-off coastal area where there is a threat of famine.
After a clear warning from Washington, Israel announced on Friday that it wanted to open the port of Ashdod and the Erez border crossing for aid transport in order to improve the supply situation in northern Gaza.
In a video statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there was now a date for an invasion of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. At Tuesday's press conference, Blinken said the US had not been made aware of any such date.
