JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - In the wake of Israel's move to scale down military operations in Gaza, the United States said it is preparing to increase the humanitarian assistance to those people who need it, as well as to help set the conditions for the population to return to North Gaza, where the U.N. hopes to be able to conduct assessment missions over the coming week.
Israeli's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had announced Monday that its forces have now shifted to a low-intensity phase of operations in North Gaza, and it will soon do so in southern Gaza as well.
They announced the withdrawal of an army division from Gaza as part of the shift.
'We're making these preparations because we believe that these lower-intensity operations inside Gaza should be able to not only allow for a reduction in civilian casualties but a more reliable distribution of aid over the coming period,' NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said at a news conference Tuesday.
U.S. special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues in Gaza, David Satterfield, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, met with Israeli senior leadership and senior military commanders at their Southern Command to discuss all these issues.
'We are having very serious and intensive discussions in Qatar about the possibility for another deal. [and] we're hopeful that it can bear fruit soon,' Kirby told reporters about efforts taken by Washington and allies to reach a deal on hostage release.
He expressed hope that the removal of Israeli troops and the announced transition that they've made will allow for people to flow back into North Gaza, and alleviate some of that pressure in the south, particularly around Khan Younis.
Kirby said the Biden administration is focused on increasing the flow of humanitarian trucks into Gaza. 'Just today, we were able to get 228 trucks into Gaza over those two crossings. Again, not enough. But we're trying to keep the level at above 200, if we can'.
Earlier, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari announced that Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza, and medicines to Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
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