Amid continued international criticism of Gaza’s plight, the United States, Israel’s close ally, has reiterated that Israel needed to do more to allow fuel and other aid into Gaza and reduce harm to civilians, Reuters reports.

Despite the mounting death toll, it said Israel was now showing some receptiveness to the calls.

“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.”

US President Joe Biden claimed on Tuesday that Hamas had repeatedly raped women and mutilated their bodies during its Oct 7 assault on southern Israel, citing survivors and witnesses of the attacks. “It is appalling,” he told a political fundraiser in Boston.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, Hamas denounced Biden’s statements as false accusations and said he was joining Israel’s effort to cover up war crimes in Gaza committed with US support.