‘War without limits’: Aid agencies sound the alarm as Israel’s Gaza blockade enters a second month

One month after Israel cut off humanitarian aid from the Gaza Strip, aid agencies say the humanitarian situation there has deteriorated dangerously, with the plight of two million civilians worsened by intensive Israeli military operations.

One month after Israel cut off humanitarian aid from the Gaza Strip, aid agencies say the humanitarian situation there has deteriorated dangerously, with the plight of two million civilians worsened by intensive Israeli military operations. The United Nations and several NGOs, as well as civilians in Gaza who have spoken with CNN, say hunger is spreading, there is less access to clean water, and fleas infest makeshift displacement camps. The problems that have plagued the territory’s population for the last 18 months have been accentuated by the renewed assault launched by the Israeli military in March, which has included several evacuation orders. The Israeli government shut down the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza ahead of the offensive, in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and impose new conditions on the extension of the ceasefire. Israel has also said Hamas intercepts and diverts shipments of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a charge the US confirmed last May. More than 280,000 people have been displaced in the past two weeks, and two-thirds of Gaza territory are now no-go areas, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Assem Al-Nabeeh, a spokesperson for the Gaza City municipality, told CNN that after several recent evacuation orders “people are literally being displaced everywhere, on main roads, in public parks, near garbage dumps, in squares, and even in buildings that are on the verge of collapse.”