Israel has pounded Gaza as the Palestinian territory suffers under a dire humanitarian situation and grappled with a telecommunications blackout on the 99th day of the offensive, AFP reports.

Witnesses reported Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the early morning, and an AFP journalist said that strikes and shelling had hit areas between Gaza’s southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, crowded with people who have fled from the north.

The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the disruption was increasing the challenges in “reaching the wounded and injured promptly”.

UN aid agency OCHA’s head for the occupied Palestinian territories told AFP that Israel was constantly blocking humanitarian aid convoys into northern Gaza.

“They have been very systematic in not allowing us to support hospitals, which is something that is reaching a point of a level of inhumanity that for me is beyond comprehension,” Andrea De Domenico said.