US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denounced the soaring number of Palestinians killed as Israel pushed ahead against Hamas in Gaza, saying more needs to be done to protect the civilians, Reuters reports.

In his strongest comments to date on civilians bearing the brunt of the war, Blinken welcomed the four-hour humanitarian Israeli pauses the White House announced on Thursday but said further action was required to protect Gaza’s civilians.

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi as he wrapped up a nine-day trip to the Middle East and Asia, he said: “Far too many Palestinians have been killed; far too many have suffered these past weeks.

“And we want to do everything possible to prevent harm to them and to maximise the assistance that gets to them,” he said, adding that Washington would be discussing further steps with Israel to advance these objectives.

Blinken said the United States had concrete plans to get more humanitarian assistance and steps to ensure more protection for the civilians but achieving those objectives was a process.

“This is a process, and it’s not always flipping a light switch, but we have seen progress. We just need to see more of it,” he said.