White House says it is concerned about 'limited' aid operations into Gaza

WASHINGTON

The White House said Thursday it remains "concerned" about "limited" aid operations for those in the Gaza Strip.

Spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre described the situation as "dire" and said more aid needs to get into the Palestinian enclave that has been under relentless Israeli attacks for months.

"We remain concerned about ongoing limited operations at the Rafah boarding crossing, and also the Erez crossing," she told reporters.

"We want to get more aid in as well as the ability of humanitarian partners to move within Gaza to deliver assistance and fuel to the vulnerable people who need it," she added.

The US will continue to press Israel to increase the level of assistance moving into Gaza, said the spokeswoman.

"We want to get more (aid) in, we are going to have those conversations with Israel. And we have seen some progress. We need to get more in," she added.

The spokeswoman also said the US expects fuel and more aid will move into Gaza through a pier built by the US "in the coming days."

Earlier, the US army announced it finished constructing a temporary floating pier off the Gazan coast meant to provide much-needed aid to the blockaded enclave.

Jean-Pierre also said more than 7,000 trucks have moved into Gaza since April 5.

More than 35,200 Palestinians have been killed, the vast majority being women and children, and over 79,200 injured, since early October following an attack by Hamas.

More than seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.