Gaza humanitarian crisis grows as US bid to ease blockade falters

An intense US-led diplomatic effort failed yesterday to ease the plight of 2 million Palestinians trapped under bombardment in Gaza with supplies of water, food and medicine all running out, raising the prospect of a humanitarian disaster.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken , arrived back in Israel after a tour of the five Gulf Arab states and Egypt as part of a continuing but faltering diplomatic mission. US media reported that Joe Biden was considering a trip as an already dire situation drastically deteriorated .

Lorries carrying vital supplies have been at Egypt’s border with Gaza for days but repeated Israeli strikes and a diplomatic stalemate with Cairo have prevented them entering. An Israeli airstrike hit the crossing again last night, a BBC journalist in Gaza reported . It is the fourth time the area has been bombed in the past week.

Residents of the strip, which is ruled by Hamas, said strikes overnight between Sunday and yesterday were the heaviest yet as the conflict entered its 10th day.

According to an aid official, a few UN lorries carrying oil were allowed into Gaza from Egypt yesterday morning but the crossing remained closed to most humanitarian deliveries. “No food, nothing of that sort, made it through,” an aid source said. “Nobody is able to get anything close to that border.”

Egyptian security services had earlier assured aid agencies and journalists that an agreement had been reached for the Rafah crossing to be opened at 9am yesterday. But in response, the office of the Israeli p rime m inister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a one-line statement saying: “There is no ceasefire.”