Israel has declined to renew the visa for Jonathan Whittall, the senior UN aid official for the occupied Palestinian territories, a UN spokesperson said on Friday, adding there were intensifying threats of reduced access to suffering civilians.

Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said visas for UN staff were recently renewed for shorter periods than usual and access requests to Gaza were denied for multiple agencies.

Kaneko said permits for Palestinian staff to enter East Jerusalem were also withheld.