WASHINGTON

The US envoy to the UN urged UN Security Council members Wednesday to support the work of the US-Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

"Unfortunately, today we have heard many Council members and aid agencies continue to defend a failed system rather than support the GHF as it delivers life-saving assistance to those in need,” US Charge d'Affaires ad interim Dorothy Shea told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"We would urge member states and the UN to support the GHF and stop echoing incorrect information that benefits Hamas and undermines the secure delivery of aid to civilians in Gaza," she added.

Noting that no one wants to see Palestinian civilians in Gaza go hungry and thirsty, she said the US supports getting assistance to civilians in the besieged Strip.

Shea said there would be a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if the Palestinian group Hamas had agreed to the proposal on the table.

"The responsibility for the situation in Gaza lies solely with Hamas," she added.

Launched in the besieged Gaza Strip on May 27, the aid distribution sites of the US- and Israeli-backed GHF have been described as “death traps” by critics.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded 798 killings, including 615 near GHF sites and 183 along aid convoy routes, mostly due to gunshot injuries.

The US has faced mounting criticism for its continued military support to Israel amid the rising civilian death toll in Gaza.