GAZA, Aug 14 (AP/BBC): More than 100 nonprofit groups warned Thursday that Israel's rules for aid groups working in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank will block much-needed relief and replace independent organizations with those that serve Israel's political and military agenda - charges that Israel denied.
At the same time, hospital officials reported more deaths from Israeli airstrikes and an increasing toll from malnutrition. The mounting backlash over aid restrictions and the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza has been cited by several countries as a factor in their moves toward recognizing Palestinian statehood.
On Thursday, Israel advanced plans for new settlements in parts of the occupied West Bank, with one far-right government minister describing the move as a way to "bury the idea of a Palestinian state."
The nonprofit groups, including Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders and CARE, were responding to registration rules announced by Israel in March that require organizations to hand over full lists of their donors and Palestinian staff for vetting.
They contend doing so could endanger their staff and give Israel broad grounds to block aid if groups are deemed to be "delegitimizing" the country or supporting boycotts or divestment.
The aid groups stressed on Thursday that most of them haven't been able to deliver "a single truck" of life-saving assistance since Israel implemented a blockade in March.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said plans to build more than 3,000 homes in a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank will "bury the idea of a Palestinian state".
The so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement has been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition internationally. Building there would effectively cut off the West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem and significantly obstruct its territorial contiguity.
Smotrich said it would thwart the idea of a Palestinian state "because there is nothing to recognise and no one to recognise".
Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. They are one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians.
About 700,000 settlers live in approximately 160 settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.
