Humanitarian aid in Gaza is "systematically paralysed" by restrictions imposed by warring parties, the Norwegian Refugee Council has warned.
The organization said 2,000 aid trucks have been blocked on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since the Israeli military launched an operation against Hamas in the southern town of Rafah on May 6.
Suze van Meegen, the NRC's head of operations for Gaza, said Palestinians were "completely deprived" of much-needed supplies of medicine, tents, water tankers, sanitary products and other essential goods.
The Israel Defense Forces say they have opened new checkpoints, paved roads and repaired water pipes to ease the suffering of Palestinians, and say one million displaced people evacuated Rafah before the fighting began.
Ms van Meegen said: "The city of Rafah now consists of three completely different worlds: the eastern part is an archetypal war zone, the middle part is a ghost town and the western part is an overcrowded mass of people living in deplorable conditions."
She told the BBC that some Palestinians had been moved up to nine times since the conflict began in October.
"People have no choice but to trust the so-called 'humanitarian safe zones' set up by the forces that have killed members of their families and destroyed their homes."
Satellite images show how areas previously covered in tents and makeshift shelters have been cleared since the start of Israel's military operation in Rafah. There is also increasing evidence of destruction of buildings and infrastructure in the city.
IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said the force was operating "with purpose and precision" to eliminate the remaining Hamas battalions.
"Hamas terrorists are waging war by embedding themselves in and under civilian areas in Rafah - because Hamas wants Gaza's civilians caught in the crossfire. We don't want that," he added.
Amos Harel, a defense journalist for Israel's Haaretz newspaper, said the IDF had made significant progress in taking control of the city and the Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow strip of land that runs along the border with Egypt.
"So far, they have covered more than half of the "Philadelphia" corridor and have not noticed any serious resistance from Hamas in this area," he said./BGNES
