Galant (right) and Austin during their meeting in Tel Aviv two months ago (Anatolia)
The US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) reported that Secretary Lloyd Austin listened in a call with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant, to his assessment of the negotiations to release detainees in the Gaza Strip.
The Pentagon said that Austin and Gallant discussed the urgent need to bring more humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, and also discussed the need to open new routes to deliver aid to the northern Strip.
Earlier, Axios quoted American officials as saying that there is growing concern within the White House about the threat of famine in the Gaza Strip, which has been exposed to a devastating Israeli war since the seventh of last October.
The American website indicated that the administration of US President Joe Biden is considering airdropping humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, with the increasing difficulty of delivering it by land.
Negotiations are currently taking place between the Palestinian factions and Israel, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, with the aim of reaching a calm in the Gaza Strip, releasing Israeli detainees and Palestinian prisoners, and supporting the humanitarian situation in the Strip.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands martyred and injured, most of them children and women, according to Palestinian and UN data, which led to Israel being brought before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing the crime of genocide.
Source: Al Jazeera