WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The humanitarian circumstances in Gaza are still dire and Israel needs to do more to allow more aid into the strip and coordinate with aid agencies on deconfliction, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday.

"There has been some measurable progress that we've seen when it comes to humanitarian aid getting into Gaza," Patel told a press briefing. "But the circumstances within Gaza continue to be dire and more absolutely needs to be done. The crisis that we're seeing demands rapid expansion of these efforts." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Costas Pitas and Simon Lewis)