Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent in Jerusalem

image source, Reuters

Senior U.S. officials have reiterated their call for Israel to increase the amount of aid going into the Gaza Strip, following an earlier letter warning that American arms funding could be harmed if improvements were not made.

In the past three days, aid has been able to reach the northern Gaza Strip after two weeks of no aid being delivered there, according to the United Nations.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin co-signed the strongly worded letter calling on Israel to take concrete steps to address the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The Pentagon, like the State Department, has acknowledged improvements in aid deliveries this week – but continues to reiterate the message.

Aid was again discussed in a late-night phone call between Austin and Israel’s defense minister.

Earlier, the US ambassador to the United Nations told the Security Council that Washington was careful to ensure that Israel’s actions on the ground did not amount to what she called a “policy of starvation.”

Israel denies there was a plan to block food imports into the northern Gaza Strip, where it launched a new ground offensive two weeks ago against what it said were newly formed Hamas militants.

Jabalia, in the north, remains surrounded by Israeli troops and residents say they are running out of food.