US hopes for allowance of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Washington, (EFE) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that he hopes Israel will allow a rapid flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

The top U.S. diplomat responded this way when asked during a House hearing about Pope Leo XIV’s appeal for the entry of food and medicine into the Palestinian enclave.

“We have asked the Israelis, and I think they have publicly acknowledged this, to allow the flow of more aid,” Rubio said.

“In fact, we hope that more aid will begin to flow rapidly to Gaza in the coming days,” added the Secretary of State, who attended Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass over the weekend.

Rubio explained that he took advantage of his visit to Rome to also meet with the UN World Food Program (WFP), which is based in the Italian capital, and during the meeting they discussed the distribution program in Gaza.

Pope Leo XIV called this Wednesday for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza and for an end to hostilities, during his first general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, before thousands of cheering faithful.

This is a new reference to the situation in Gaza by Leo XIV, who last Sunday, during the Regina Caeli prayer after the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, had already stated that “in Gaza, children, families, and the elderly are driven to starvation.”