Talks yield 'some progress' on allowing fuel into Gaza: UN aid chief

The United Nations aid chief has said there has been "some progress" in ongoing negotiations to allow fuel into Israeli-besieged Gaza for the first time since October 7.

"I heard just this morning as I came in, there has been some progress on allowing some more fuel in through these negotiations," Martin Griffiths told a briefing for member states at the United Nations in New York on Friday.

He was referring to ongoing negotiations between the global body, Israel, Egypt and the United States. "I hope to see that confirmed during today."

In the same speech, he also repeated his call for "humanitarian pauses" in Israel's bombardment of the enclave to help aid deliveries, which are far below pre-conflict levels.

"If we do not have pauses, we will not keep up with the needs of the people of Gaza and the Israelis also caught up in those areas of conflict," he said.

'Starved of supplies'

On a visit to the region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed to Israel on Friday to take steps to protect civilians in Gaza after its attacks killed over 9,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

The director of the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, Tom White, said his agency was being "starved" of the supplies it needs to help people in the densely populated enclave.

"Never have I been in a situation where we are effectively starved of the vital humanitarian supplies that we need to provide to people," he said, adding that most Palestinians in Gaza were surviving on one or two pieces of bread per day.

White said 72 UNRWA staff members had been killed in Gaza. He added that UNRWA had lost contact with many of its shelters in the north, which is the focus of Israel's military assaults.