Volunteers working for Oxford-based aid agency Oxfam have been forced to suspend their humanitarian work in Gaza because of the recent bombing.

A programme that will feed 25,000 people has also been put on hold and Oxfam managers are warning the people of the Gaza Strip are facing a humanitarian crisis unless the bombing stops and the Israelis allow immediate access for aid shipments.

Oxfam’s local health partners are now helping people injured by the bombing, but hospitals are running out of basic supplies.

John Prideaux-Brune, Oxfam spokesman in Jerusalem, said: “Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza depend on Oxfam and other international aid agencies for the basics of life — clean water, food and sanitation.

“Gaza has been shut off from the outside world for 19 months and people there are already on the edge.

“There’s a real risk of a humanitarian crisis unless the bombing stops now.

“The international community must not stand aside and allow Israeli leaders to commit massive and disproportionate violence against Gazan civilians in violation of international law.

“Oxfam condemns outright Hamas’s rocket attacks on Israeli civilians.

“However, they cannot justify this overwhelming military response which is killing innocent civilians.

“World leaders must take all necessary actions to stop attacks by all parties and must push the Israelis to continuously open all crossing points into Gaza.”