US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday described how US pressure has resulted in incremental progress from Israel in protecting civilians and allowing aid into Gaza.
Blinken noted that after each of his trips to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government shifted toward the US position.
The top US diplomat noted that on his first trip to Israel, in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attack, "we made the case for the imperative of getting" aid into Gaza.
"After we left, that assistance started to flow," he said at a news conference at the State Department alongside UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
He said on his second trip, the focus was on emphasizing how "humanitarian pauses could be beneficial in getting hostages out, getting more assistance in."
"Well, shortly after we left that's also what happened," he said.
On his most recent trip to Israel last week, Blinken stressed the need to protect civilians and pressed the Israeli government not to carry out its offensive in south Gaza in the same way it did in the north. He also stressed the need for sustained humanitarian assistance.
"What we've seen over the initial days is some important additional steps in the direction of doing just that," Blinken said.
Still, the top US diplomat reiterated that there remains a gap between the "intent to protect civilians and the actual results that we're seeing on the ground."