Israel-Gaza updates: 300,000 have fled Rafah, UN agency says

Although the Biden administration said it expected the Kerem Shalom and Rafah gates to be at least partially opened for humanitarian aid by Wednesday, the State Department was much less optimistic. However, the U.S. vowed it would continue to press Israel to get both portals up and running again.

While Kerem Shalom reopened Wednesday, aid had not been allowed to pass through because of "logistical and security concerns on the ground," State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said during a briefing Wednesday. He also said fuel had not been able to enter Gaza through Rafah.

"We think it's critical that Rafah be open for fuel because without fuel deliveries into Rafah, humanitarian assistance that comes in through Kerem Shalom can't actually be delivered. The two are critically linked," Miller said. "We're continuing to push for that to happen."

Miller didn’t provide any updated timeline on when the U.S. expected the crossings would be functional again, but said it was imperative that Israel act to increase the amount of aid allowed into Gaza following what he described as a "fairly dramatic dip" this week.

"When it comes to the level of humanitarian assistance, the results as they are today are just unacceptable. There's no other way to put it," Miller lamented.

He continued, "We are making quite clear to the government of Israel that we need to see those decreases reversed. We need to get back to where we were, and we need to see the levels continue to increase and see those sustained, and that is why we need to see Kerem Shalom and Rafah opened."

-ABC News' Shannon Crawford

The Gaza Health Ministry said its medical teams have found a third mass grave inside Al-Shifa Hospital's medical complex.

The health ministry has recovered 49 bodies so far as the exhumation process continues.

The ministry said this is the seventh mass grave found by medical teams inside hospitals — one in Kamal Adwan Hospital, three in the Shifa Medical Complex and three in the Nasser Medical Complex. A total of 520 bodies have been recovered from the graves.

In April, the Israel Defense Forces denied accusations from the ministry that they buried at least 283 bodies in a mass grave near Nasser Hospital in Gaza. The IDF alleged that during its operation near the area of Nasser Hospital, it examined corpses in that area in an effort to locate hostages.

The U.S. has paused a munitions shipment to Israel, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday, warning that a major Israeli operation in Rafah could change the U.S. calculus on security assistance.

Austin is the first senior administration official to publicly confirm the U.S. pause on military aid but added that no "final determination" has been made.

"We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah," Austin told a Senate subcommittee, emphasizing that supplemental funding the administration just passed is not in jeopardy.

"We've been very clear, senator, as you know, from the very beginning that Israel shouldn't launch a major attack on Rafah without accounting for and protecting those civilians that are hitting that battlespace. And, again as we have assessed the situation, we paused one shipment of high payload munitions."

Austin maintained that the U.S.-Israel alliance is "ironclad."

-ABC News' Chris Boccia

One of the three hospitals in Rafah, Al-Najjar, is no longer functioning due to the ongoing hostilities in its vicinity and Israel's military operation, according to the World Health Organization.

"Hospitals in the south of Gaza only have three days of fuel left, which means services may soon come to a halt," the WHO warned.

The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the entry of fuel needed for aid operations; without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop, the WHO warned. Border closures are also impeding delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the WHO said.

"At a time when fragile humanitarian operations urgently require expansion, the Rafah military operation is further limiting our ability to reach thousands of people who have been living in dire conditions without adequate food, sanitation, health services and security. This must stop now," the WHO said.

-ABC News' Will Gretsky