Rafah, May 18 (RHC)-- Israel’s deadly attacks throughout the Gaza Strip are intensifying with thousands more Palestinians in northern Gaza now cut off from food and water as Israel says its troops are fighting in Jabaliya’s “city center.” 

Israel’s attacks on Rafah are also ongoing, after more than half a million people taking refuge in the southern city were forced to flee.

The U.S. said its first aid shipments have started via its temporary Gaza pier after several weeks of construction. But the United Nations has reiterated that all humanitarian access points to Gaza need to be opened up.

UN secretary-general's deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq, told reporters: “To stave off the horrors of famine, we must use the fastest and most obvious route to reach the people of Gaza.  And for that, we need access by land now.”

One displaced person, Hassan Abu Al-Kass, said: “We don’t want ships.  We want the border crossing to open for people to come and go. We want safety.  We want official borders.  Those planes, as well, that they bring here with the parachutes, and they throw food at us like dogs, like beggars, that does not work. It falls on houses. It falls on people.  It brings us problems.”

“We reject dealing with the ships and the American ships, because in the same way it gives us, it will take away from us.  Maybe they want to take over the gas fields that are in the sea, or maybe they are here to displace the Palestinian people and to transfer people from one country to another.”