Blinken says ‘criminal gangs' and ‘ordinary civilians’ looting humanitarian aid in Gaza, doesn't mention Hamas

Join Fox News for access to this content Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account - free of charge. Please enter a valid email address. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. To access the content, check your email and follow the instructions provided. Having trouble? Click here.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said lawlessness, insecurity, and desperation remain hurdles to delivering much-needed humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza who are caught in the crossfire between Israeli soldiers and Hamas militants.

Blinken said these grim factors cause people to charge trucks delivering aid within the Gaza Strip, believing it may be their only chance to get food.

"You have situations where aid goes in and then people immediately charge at the trucks and you see looting. You see criminals get in the act," Blinken said. "And again, just ordinary civilians who, in the absence of sufficient aid, may believe that their only chance to get a piece of bread is to go at the one truck they see coming in."

Blinken said food prices and the sense of lawlessness would abate when people Gazans have a "sustainable, predictable confident supply of assistance going in."

BIDEN WARNED ABOUT ‘MEDDLING’ IN ISRAELI POLITICS AFTER INTEL REPORT SAYS NETANYAHU'S LEADERSHIP ‘IN JEOPARDY’

Blinken made no mention of Hamas operatives being complicit in the looting, even though officials both in the U.S. and Israel have raised concerns that the terrorist group was siphoning off deliveries meant for civilians.

Others have pushed back on this claim. Bill Deere of the United