Volunteers prepare food for displaced Palestinians in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip, May 19, 2024. /CFP
Israeli forces thrust deeper into Jabalia in northern Gaza and southern Gaza's Rafah City on Tuesday, worsening the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave.
The simultaneous Israeli assaults on the northern and southern edges of the Gaza Strip this month have caused a new exodus of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing their homes, and sharply restricted the flow of aid, raising the risk of famine.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the main United Nations agency in Gaza, said on Tuesday that food distributions had been suspended in Rafah due to lack of supplies and insecurity caused by Israel's expanding military operation. The UN warned that humanitarian operations across the territory were nearing collapse.
In Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus asked Israel to lift the blockade on medical supplies into Gaza, saying approximately 700 seriously ill patients are stuck in a war zone.
"Crossings from Egypt into Gaza have remained closed for two weeks, cutting off the primary pipeline for emergency health supplies into Gaza."
As there are only two functional hospitals remaining in northern Gaza, the WHO chief said it is imperative to ensure their ability to deliver health services.
More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict in Gaza, which is now in its eighth month, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
A view of damage as smoke rises after Israeli attacks on the northern Gaza Strip, May 21, 2024. /CFP
Also on Tuesday, inspectors of the Israeli Communications Ministry confiscated photographic equipment and halted a live broadcast of the U.S.-based AP, according to Israeli state-owned Kan TV news.
The Israeli action was carried out in the southern city of Sderot, near the Gaza Strip, when the AP team was documenting the situation in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict.
According to the ministry, a new Israeli law enacted in early April grants the government the authority to bar the broadcasting of the Qatari news channel Al Jazeera in Israel. And AP violated the law by transferring the materials it filmed to Al Jazeera, the ministry added.
The Israeli action brought oppositions from both U.S. and Israeli sides. AP said it strongly disavowed the action of the Israeli government, while the White House expressed concern over the Israeli action, adding that it believes journalists have the ability and right to do their jobs.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said the government "went crazy."
At present, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to return the equipment the ministry had previously confiscated from the AP following American pressure, according to the Israeli state-owned Kan TV news.
(With input from agencies)