Gaza aid operations may halt as Israeli bombings intensify, charities warn

Humanitarian workers already face a slew of challenges getting aid to civilians in besieged Gaza and fear that as Israel's war on Gaza rages on, they may be forced to halt operations.

"There are enormous needs" which are bound to grow, while there is "less and less access", said the head of a European charity, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory, where the UN has warned of looming famine, has significantly deteriorated since Israeli troops invaded eastern Rafah last week.

The Israeli military has launched what it called a "limited" operation, seizing on May 7 the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border - a key aid conduit that is now shut - and sparking an exodus of Palestinians seeking safety further north in Gaza.

The latest Israeli assault, more than seven months into the war, has cut off access to some areas and left aid crossings either closed or operating at a limited capacity.

Israel deliberately targeted aid worker locations

A worker for the Paris-based non-governmental organisation Humanity & Inclusion (HI) in the Palestinian territories, also requesting anonymity, said: "We can't get our teams out, the security conditions are too unstable."

Aid workers told AFP their organisations had regularly been denied access by Israeli authorities to certain areas or routes.

A trickle of aid has entered via Kerem Shalom in recent days under "great risk, through an area of active hostilities", said a UN employee in Jerusalem.

Human Rights Watch charged this week that Israeli forces had repeatedly targeted known aid worker locations, even when their organisations had provided the coordinates to Israeli authorities to ensure their protection.

On Monday, a UN employee was killed and another wounded when their vehicle was hit in Rafah.

Shaina Low, communications adviser for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the organisation had subsequently "cancelled all of our movements for the rest of the day to mitigate risk to our staff".

The Israeli army said it was looking into the incident which occurred "in an area declared an active combat zone".

250 aid workers killed

To avoid having to go through a series of mediators - UN agencies, Israel's Coordination and Liaison Administration and then its parent agency COGAT - some aid groups have opted for direct contact with Israeli military authorities.

But workers and officials told AFP this has mostly created further confusion. Some also fear NGOs would accept conditions in direct communication with the military, which could set precedents other groups may not be willing to abide by.

The HI employee said: "Notifying them of our movements, which they're not supposed to hinder, is a way of reminding them of their accountability if anything goes wrong."

Since the war began, more than 250 humanitarian workers have been killed in Gaza, according to UN figures.