WASHINGTON: The United States said Tuesday that a US-backed relief effort in Gaza was succeeding in distributing meals but acknowledged the potential for improvement after the Red Cross reported 27 deaths.
“They’re succeeding in getting the meals distributed. And in the meantime, we’re going to obviously be determining how that’s working and how we can further improve perhaps,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.
The Red Cross said that 27 people were killed in southern Gaza near an aid center of the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund as Israeli troops opened fire.
The foundation has faced persistent criticism from the United Nations and aid groups, which say it goes against long-standing humanitarian principles by coordinating relief efforts with a military belligerent.
Bruce complained that President Donald Trump’s administration had been “harangued” by criticism on accounts of hunger in Gaza and that the foundation was getting in food.
She blamed the presence of Israeli troops on the lack of a surrender by Hamas, which Israel has been battling since the armed group’s unprecedented attack on October 7, 2023.
“The dynamics are dangerous and there are seven million meals that have been distributed. I can’t stress enough that that is the story,” she said.
“In the meantime, hopefully things will be refined,” she said, adding there would be another environment “if Hamas actually behaved like human beings.”
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on Monday attacked media outlets that, quoting witnesses, had reported on injuries in Gaza aid delivery, saying they were “contributing to the anti-Semitic climate” that has led to two attacks in the United States.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, asked about the Red Cross account of deaths on Tuesday, said that the Trump administration was “aware of those reports, and we are currently looking into the veracity of them.”
“Because unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth,” she said.