Israel needs to address urgently “catastrophic conditions” among Palestinian civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip and stop “intensifying suffering” by limiting aid deliveries, its ally the United States has told the UN Security Council, Reuters reports.

Referring to reports of squalid conditions in south and central Gaza, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet, have still not been addressed. That must change, and now.”

“We call on Israel to take urgent steps to do so,” she said in a blunt statement. “We need to see fewer barriers to the delivery of aid, not more of them,” Thomas-Greenfield added.

Thomas-Greenfield also addressed a recent Israeli order for civilians in Gaza’s north to evacuate again, saying they must be able to return to communities to rebuild.

“There must be no demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any actions that reduce the territory of Gaza,” Thomas-Greenfield said.