Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in recent days as Israel has intensified air strikes, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

Efron, who lives in Israel, used to be a researcher at the RAND Corporation, and has advised the United Nations, where she worked on issues relating to the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. She was also formerly a reservist for the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories,

Limited humanitarian aid has started entering Gaza after Israel's 11-week blockade, but the UN said none has yet reached civilians due, in part, to logistical hurdles imposed by Israeli authorities.

A U.S.-backed organization aims to start work in the Gaza Strip by the end of May overseeing a new model of aid distribution in the Palestinian enclave, but the United Nations says the plan is not impartial or neutral,

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it agreed with Israel to allow delivery of urgent humanitarian aid from the Gulf country to Gaza, the state news agency WAM reported.

Israeli strikes pounded Gaza overnight and into Tuesday, hitting a family home and a school-turned-shelter, and killing at least 60 people, Palestinian health officials said, as Israel pressed its war against Hamas despite mounting international condemnation.

Israeli air strikes probably killed Hamas’s Gaza chief last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, as he vowed that his ground offensive would continue until the country controlled all of the enclave.