KEREM SHALOM, Israel, May  1, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US Secretary of State Antony
Blinken on Wednesday toured a key Gaza border crossing for a first-hand look at
aid shipments, after calling on Israel to do more to help the war-ravaged
territory.

Blinken travelled to Kerem Shalom, an Israeli entry point into Gaza a few
kilometres (miles) from the southern city of Rafah, where he saw dozens of
trucks waiting to enter -- as well as several Israeli military tanks parked
nearby.

Blinken, who was escorted by Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, did not
immediately speak to reporters.

However, aides said Blinken raised concerns about the rate of aid entering
the Palestinian territory during a meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speaking the day before in Jordan, Blinken said there had been "real and
important progress, but more still needs to be done".

He has called for Israel to do more to ensure the quick passage of
humanitarian assistance into Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of
impending famine.

Measures that Israel can take, Blinken said earlier, included drawing up a
list of goods that would not be subject to arbitrary denial and clearing more
drivers to enter the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials sought to show progress to Blinken.

Shimon Freedman, a spokesman for COGAT, which coordinates Israeli policy in
the occupied territories, said that 98.5 percent of shipments were getting
through without Israeli objections and that there was a target of clearing 500
trucks a day to enter the Gaza Strip.

Kerem Shalom has become a symbol of US efforts to press Israel into
allowing humanitarian assistance into Gaza after the October 7 attacks.

After initially blocking all deliveries into Gaza, Israel reopened the
crossing in December under US pressure.

Israel in April agreed to reopen to aid the Ashdod port near Gaza, which
Blinken will also visit on Wednesday, as well as a second crossing from Israel
to northern Gaza at Erez.

Near Amman on Tuesday, Blinken saw off the first truck convoy of aid
supplies from Jordan to go through Erez.