Increasingly hard for aid groups to access Gaza: NGOs

Access to war-torn Gaza has become increasingly difficult for humanitarian groups, 13 leading NGOs warned on Monday, accusing Israel's military of blocking much-needed aid from reaching the besieged Palestinian territory.

Denouncing "Israel's systematic obstruction of aid and its ongoing attacks on aid operations", the humanitarian organisations said that Israel had facilitated only 53 -- less than half -- of the 115 relief missions they had planned.

The aid groups slammed what it called Israel's "siege tactics" in its struggle against Palestinian militant group Hamas.

It said the so-called "humanitarian zone" where most of the strip's population of 2.4 million people now reside had become "an active combat zone" and "extremely unsafe".

The charities also criticised the bombing of United Nations schools used as shelters by displaced Palestinians.

At least six schools have been hit over the past nine days.

"These recent events are exacerbating the humanitarian catastrophe at a time when NGOs continue to come up against the obstacles imposed by the continuation of Israeli military operations on the ground," a press release summarising the 13 NGOs' views warned.

Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Save the Children and the Norwegian Refugee Council were among the charities to contribute to the document.

Since Israel began its ground offensive in the far-southern city of Rafah in May, humanitarian workers have faced major difficulties in delivering aid to the Gaza Strip's south.

Israel's capture at the beginning of May of the Rafah crossing, which has since been destroyed, brought aid deliveries to a "complete halt", the NGOs added.

Tonnes of "absolutely necessary aid" were left blocked at the crossing points in the south "due to the deterioration in security conditions", the statement said.

More than 1,500 trucks of humanitarian aid containing medicines, first-aid kits and basic necessities were stuck in the Egyptian city of Al-Arish as a result.

Meanwhile, in the north of the Gaza Strip -- which has been isolated from the south by the Israeli army -- aid delivery is "very limited".

Oxfam said it took it five weeks to transport just 1,600 food parcels from Jordan to Gaza -- a journey it said "should take no more than six hours".

At Kerem Shalom, designated since May as a priority crossing point for humanitarian aid, the situation had "deteriorated significantly since Israel's offensive in May", the aid groups said.

This had made the crossing "unsafe to access from within Gaza and currently not logistically viable".

Israel denies any famine in Gaza and accuses the United Nations of blocking aid deliveries.

"Yesterday, 211 trucks entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom," Israeli government spokesman David Mencer said on Monday.

In addition, "eight trucks were collected on the Gaza side" of the Erez along with "103 from the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom", he added.

The war began with Hamas's October 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

The militants seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom remain in Gaza including 42 the military says are dead.

Israel responded with a military offensive that has killed at least 38,664 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Gaza health ministry.

Gaza civilian toll 'unacceptably high'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told two top Israeli officials Monday of the "unacceptably high" civilian casualties in Israel's bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip, his spokesman said.

The Israeli military has launched several deadly attacks in recent days including on a refugee camp and multiple UN-run schools where civilians were sheltering.

In response, Hamas said it was pulling out of ceasefire negotiations, causing prospects for a truce and hostage release deal to dwindle further.

Blinken received two influential Israeli officials -- Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi -- "to express our serious concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza."

Casualties "still remain unacceptably high. We continue to see far too many civilians killed in this conflict," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

On Saturday, Israeli strikes killed more than 90 people in the Al-Mawasi camp near Khan Yunis, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

AFP reported sirens wailing and women screaming as children were pulled bloody and unmoving from the wreckage in Al-Mawasi, which Israel had declared a "safe zone".

The Israeli military said the bombardment targeted two people -- the head of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Deif, and his close associate Rafa Salama who the army said was killed.

A Hamas official said Sunday that Deif was "well and directly overseeing" operations, though doubts remained.

The two Israeli officials told Blinken that "they do not have certainty yet" about Deif's fate, according to Miller.

The bilateral discussions also focused on a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, humanitarian aid for Gaza and post-war plans, he said.

The visit comes several few days before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the US Congress on July 24.

"We continue to hear from Israel directly that they want to reach a ceasefire and that they're committed to the proposal that they put forward," Miller said.

The United States has strongly defended Israel since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, in which 1,195 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

During the attack, the militants also seized 251 hostages, 116 of whom are still in Gaza including 42 the military says are dead.

Israel's military offensive has killed at least 38,584 people, also mostly civilians, according to data provided by the Gaza health ministry.

US President Joe Biden has been under mounting political pressure over the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"We are incredibly troubled by the ongoing deaths of Palestinians in Gaza," Miller said Monday, when asked about US weapons provided to Israel.