US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Israel has made “some progress” in committing to address some of the security concerns the UN has in order to make sure it can effectively and more safely deliver aid to the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Over the past week or so, we’ve been working to address urgent challenges that are making it difficult to deliver the necessary humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza who so desperately need it, particularly when it comes to the security of the deliveries and those delivering the assistance,” Blinken told reporters along with UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza Sigrid Kaag.

Blinken said he raised these concerns “clearly and directly” with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he was in Washington, DC recently.

“I think we’ve seen over the last couple of days some progress in Israel committing to address some of the needs that the United Nations in particular has, to make sure that it can effectively and more safely deliver assistance.

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