The ICRC issued the warning on Friday, adding to the urgent pleas from international aid institutions for a deal that would see Israel agree to a ceasefire and the reopening of humanitarian corridors in exchange for the release of captives by Hamas.

Without an immediate resumption of aid deliveries, the Red Cross “will not have access to the food, medicines, and life-saving supplies needed to sustain many of its programmes in Gaza”, the ICRC said in a statement.

Israel strictly controls all inflows of international aid which is vital for the 2.3 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, amid bombardment that has displaced the majority, devastated the enclave and killed more than 52,000.

Israel closed access for aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2, two weeks before the collapse of the ceasefire that had started in January and ran for about six weeks.

The ICRC warned that if the blockade continues, its humanitarian operations in Gaza, particularly the distribution of food, “will only be able to operate for a few more weeks”.

Under international humanitarian law, it added, Israel has an “obligation to use all means available” to ensure that the needs of Palestinian civilians under its control are met.

“Civilians in Gaza are facing an overwhelming daily struggle to survive the dangers of hostilities, cope with relentless displacement, and endure the consequences of being deprived of urgent humanitarian assistance,” Pascal Hundt, ICRC deputy chief of operations, stated.

“This situation must not – and cannot – be allowed to escalate further.”

The United Nations has repeatedly warned of humanitarian catastrophe, with famine looming as the blockade continues.

On Friday, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for the Palestinian refugees (UNWRA), said the Israeli siege is collectively punishing children, women, older people and men in Gaza.

On Friday, Israel continued its bombardment of the enclave.

Israeli forces killed nearly 200 journalists in the first 18 months of the war, at least 42 of whom were slain while doing their job, Reporters Without Borders reported on Friday as it released its World Press Freedom Index 2025.

“Trapped in the enclave, journalists in Gaza have no shelter and lack everything, including food and water,” said the Paris-based group, which is also known by its French acronym RSF.

“In the West Bank, journalists are routinely harassed and attacked by both settlers and Israeli forces, but repression reached new heights with a wave of arrests after 7 October, when impunity for crimes committed against journalists became a new rule.”

Journalists suspected of collaborating with Israel are also hampered in their work by Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, while a cybercrime law adopted by the Palestinian Authority limits freedom of expression and freedom of the press, RSF added in its report.

Palestine ranked 163rd for press freedom in the latest index, a drop of six places from 2024.

Of 180 jurisdictions, 112 saw declines in press freedom, with the average score globally falling to a record low of 55 points, according to the report.

The United States dropped two places to a record low of 57, with the watchdog accusing US President Donald Trump of overseeing a “troubling deterioration in press freedom”.

“President Donald Trump was elected to a second term after a campaign in which he denigrated the press on a daily basis and made explicit threats to weaponize the federal government against the media,” RSF said.

“His early moves in his second mandate to politicise the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ban The Associated Press from the White House, or dismantle the US Agency for Global Media, for example, have jeopardised the country’s news outlets and indicate that he intends to follow through on his threats, setting up a potential crisis for American journalism,” it added.

Israel dropped 11 places to 112th, with Reporters Without Borders pointing to growing restrictions on press freedom, media plurality and editorial independence since the start of the war in Gaza.

“Since 2021, only journalists working for Channel 14, a media outlet that covers Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a favourable light, have been granted interviews with the country’s leader, who accuses the Israeli press of conspiring against him,” the group said.

“In 2024, the Minister of Communication called on the government to boycott Haaretz, one of the few newspapers to criticise Netanyahu’s policies, including the massacre of civilians in Gaza – a topic that is largely suppressed,” it added.

Eritrea was the lowest-ranked jurisdiction, just behind North Korea and China.

Norway was ranked first for press freedom, followed by Estonia, the Netherlands and Sweden.