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United Nations agencies and Oxfam voiced grave concerns on Wednesday about food running out in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are experiencing famine, after Israel closed the only operational crossing there last week.Israel began its long-expected ground assault on Gaza City in the north on Tuesday and is stepping up efforts to empty the city of civilians by opening an additional route southwards.Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in the city and many are reluctant to follow Israel's orders to move because of dangers along the route, dire conditions, a lack of food to the south, and fear of permanent displacement."There are grave concerns over fuel and food stock depletion in a matter of days as there are now no direct aid entry points into northern Gaza and resupply from south to north is increasingly challenging due to mounting road congestion and insecurity," the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said in a statement.The Zikim Crossing was shut on September 12 and no aid groups have been able to import supplies since, it said.Bushra Khalidi, Policy Lead at Oxfam, said that the move could be "another strategy to corral the population to move down south".Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its reasons for the closure. Late on Tuesday it said that humanitarian aid would be allowed to enter northern Gaza, without giving details.Israel controls all access to Gaza and says it allows enough food aid into the enclave, where it has been at war with Palestinian fighters Hamas for nearly two years. It accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which the fighters deny."There is an urgent need for an active border point into the north to be opened for essential life-saving humanitarian supplies," said Abeer Etefa, a World Food Programme spokesperson, which had used the crossing before its closure.A global hunger monitor said last month that Gaza City and surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine and that it was likely to spread.

Non governmental organizations (NGOs) called on countries and companies, particularly European ones, to cease their commercial dealings with illegal settlements run by Israel in occupied Palestinian territories.More than 80 NGOs, including the Human Rights Association and Oxfam, published a report on the business with illegal settlements: how foreign states and companies enable Israel to carry out its illegal settlement policy, which specifically targets companies and institutions that continue their business activities with illegal settlements, which directly contribute to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's prolonged occupation.The report referred to a French retail chain whose business partnerships in Israel directly support the settlement economy by enabling the sale of its products.It also mentioned a British machinery company that manufactures equipment used to destroy Palestinian homes, damage their crops, and build illegal settlements.The report accused foreign banks of financing commercial activities in the settlements, and a German company of contributing, according to NGOs, to transportation infrastructure that benefits the settlements.The campaign organizers urged countries, particularly those in the EU and the UK, to explicitly ban business activities with Israeli settlements, including the provision of services and investments.The report also called for preventing banks and financial institutions from granting loans to companies that finance projects in the settlements.This report follows a previous report submitted in July by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories by Francesca Albanese to the UN Human Rights Council.According to Albanese, the settlements are expanding with funding from banks and insurance companies, and are being normalized by tourism platforms, large retail chains, and academic institutions.The UN expert noted that consumers have the power to hold these companies accountable.