New satellite imagery reveals the United States' and United Nations' stepped-up efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza as convoys of trucks cross the Rafah border from Egypt.

At the same time, international mediators appeared to make progress Wednesday on extending the truce in Gaza while Hamas militants freed more hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel's air and ground offensive. The cease-fire was set to end within the day.

As of last week, more than 1,370 truckloads of humanitarian assistance had entered Gaza, said John Kirby, the White House spokesman for national security matters. But the pace is still far short of the goal of 150 trucks a day.

US humanitarian aid flowing into Egypt

U.S. military aircraft have delivered food, water and other aid to the North Sinai in Egypt as thousands of Palestinians in Gaza await the supplies.

“Looking at the next couple of days, we’ll be focused on doing what we can to extend the pause so we can continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a news conference in Brussels, where he was attending a NATO foreign ministers meeting.

“And we’ll discuss with Israel how it can achieve its objective of ensuring that the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 never happen again, while sustaining and increasing humanitarian assistance and minimizing further suffering of Palestinian civilians," Blinken said.

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Humanitarian aid trucks make their way into Gaza

The U.S. wants to make certain it is helping the Palestinians and not Hamas. To that end, Kirby said there has been no indication Hamas has intercepted the latest assistance that has entered Gaza.

Yet distinguishing between Palestinians and Hamas can be challenging because Hamas comprises a military wing and a governing authority that is in charge of everything in Gaza – from the health ministry to road construction.

More aid trucks spotted near border and inside Gaza

The differences in aid activity since the cease-fire began are noticeable along the Rafah border crossing. Satellite images captured Nov. 26 by Maxar Technologies shows a larger volume of aid trucks in the border area compared with images captured about a month before. In particular, lines of trucks can be seen inside and outside Gaza along the border fence, and a larger volume of trucks can be seen in a transfer area just inside Gaza. 

CONTRIBUTING The Associated Press, Michael Collins, Kim Hjelmgaardm and Josh Meyer/USA TODAY