SECRETARY BLINKEN: Good afternoon. It's a great pleasure to have my friend and colleague Sigrid Kaag here as the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian and Reconstruction Assistance for Gaza.
Over the past week or so, we've been working to address urgent challenges that are making it difficult to deliver the necessary humanitarian assistance the people of Gaza who so desperately need it, particularly when it comes to the security of the deliveries and those delivering the assistance. I raised these concerns clearly and directly with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant when he was here just a few days ago, and I think we've seen over the last couple of days some progress in Israel committing to address some of the needs that the United Nations in particular has to make sure that it can effectively and more safely deliver assistance.
We continue to face the challenge of aid getting to and into Gaza, but then not being able to be distributed effectively because, principally, of real security challenges. And so when it comes to making sure that food, water, medicine, and other basic necessities that the Palestinian people need just to survive get to them, we continue to have important work to do. It's good that and important that Israel is addressing these very concrete needs, but they have to be implemented as quickly as possible. There is no time to lose.
And I'm also eager to hear from Sigrid ongoing needs, ongoing requirements to make sure that both the United Nations, private providers of assistance, all of the countries that are working together to try to help the Palestinian people, who need it so desperately - how we can be more effective. And with that, Sigrid —
MS KAAG: Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: — good to have you here.
MS KAAG: Thank you, Mr. Secretary, and indeed my friend, Tony, but also, of course, the Secretary of State of the United States. I'm delighted to be here.
It is, indeed, a very critical period. I'm responsible for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2720, which was born out of political necessity in the face of ever-growing humanitarian needs, reaching near catastrophic conditions when the resolution was adopted in December. It's been a very tough and difficult period for the civilians in Gaza and, of course, also the families of the Israeli hostages who continue to live with deep uncertainty about the fate of their loved ones.
But the focus of my mission is on the civilians in Gaza - to get the volume, the quality, and the predictability of assistance that they so desperately need, given the fact that they've left their homes - 1.9 million people are displaced. They survive in tents. There's absence of almost anything anyone could possibly imagine. So it's our task, indeed, not only to get the aid to Gaza but also to have the ability to distribute this safely and securely.
And I'm not only saying this for the United Nations family. It's also for the NGOs that risk their lives every day with - in their presence, Palestinians NGOs as much as the international NGOs. It's a very difficult operating environment for the civilians, first and foremost, but also those who seek to assist. And that is a constant dialogue where the support and leadership of the United States is so very important for the United Nations to be able to succeed.
And equally so, if there is hope of a ceasefire deal, it's also important we take stock and we look towards the early recovery needs - health facilities, children back into learning, anything that forms part of what we would all consider human dignity for our fellow human beings. And that's a shared commitment, and the ongoing discussions with the Israeli Government are extremely important in this regard with strong support and the leadership of the United States, Antony Blinken in particular.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thank you.
MS KAAG: Thank you.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks everyone.
