Secretary of State Antony Blinken has admitted to lawmakers Tuesday that \u2018we have to anticipate\u2019 some of the humanitarian aid flowing into the Gaza Strip will end up in the hands of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blinken made the remark in front of the Senate Appropriations Committee as he said the U.S. is trying to coordinate 100 trucks of aid per day into the conflict zone this week, arguing that it is the \u2018bare minimum of what is needed.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Can I promise you in this committee that there\u2019ll be 100% delivery to the designated recipients? No, there will inevitably be some spillage,\u2019 he said. \u2018We haven\u2019t seen it to date, but I think we have to anticipate that. But the overwhelming, overwhelming majority of the assistance thus far is getting to people who need it. And we need more.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blinken said so far, the U.S. has gotten up to 50 trucks of aid per day into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
LIVE UPDATES: ISRAEL AT WAR WITH HAMAS<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018Before the conflict in Gaza, before Hamas\u2019 aggression against Israel and its response, the U.N. and other agencies and other organizations providing relief were sending in between 500 and 800 hundred trucks a day,\u2019 he said. \u2018Right now, we\u2019re up to almost 60. We\u2019re trying to get to 100 this week.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n When asked about the process to make sure the aid is not going to terrorists, Blinken said \u2018from day one, we have been working with the Israeli government, with Egypt, with the U.N. agencies, as well as with other actors to try to make sure that assistance could get in to people who need it in Gaza, but get in, in a way that doesn\u2019t go to the people who don\u2019t need it. And that\u2019s Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n HECKLERS SCREAM AT BLINKEN FOR ISRAEL-HAMAS \u2018CEASEFIRE\u2019 DURING SENATE HEARING<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018So we\u2019ve set up a system where assistance is coming through Rafah, the gate between Egypt and Gaza. The assistance is checked by Israel at a site that has been established to do that, so that every truck that goes in is verified by Israel as well as by the Egyptian authorities. The trucks go in. These are U.N. trucks. They go in, they connect to other U.N. trucks on the other side of the line in Gaza. These trucks then go to distribution facilities that are run by U.N. agencies,\u2019 Blinken explained. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018The supplies are then taken from those agencies to various points to hospitals to bakeries, because bread is critical and to other end points throughout this process, we have an ability and others have an ability to track where the assistance is going,\u2019 he added. \u2018We\u2019re then able to do monitoring on the other end by contacting the designated recipients to ensure that it\u2019s actually gotten to where it\u2019s supposed to go and not been diverted. \u00a0<\/p>\n