The United States has accused Israel of adding to the suffering in the Gaza Strip and wants it to better protect civilians facing that condition, its ambassador to the United Nations said on Thursday.

“These catastrophic conditions were predicted months ago, and yet, have still not been addressed.

“That must change, and now,’’ Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UN Security Council.

“We call on Israel to take urgent steps to do so,’’ she added.

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She said there were already reports of deplorable conditions in the humanitarian zone in the southern and central Gaza Strip, where more than 1.5 million civilians had fled.

Concerns have also been raised about the Israeli government’s measures to restrict deliveries into Gaza.

Combined with bureaucratic restrictions on humanitarian goods from Jordan and the closure of most border crossings in recent weeks, “these restrictions would only have the effect of intensifying suffering in Gaza,’’ Thomas-Greenfield said.

“We need to see fewer barriers to the delivery of aid, not more of them,’’ she stated.

She reaffirmed that Palestinian civilians must be allowed to return to their communities and rebuild them, adding that there should be no territorial changes in Gaza.

The head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, told the UN Security Council that Gaza was “unrecognizable’’.

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“No end to hell,” he wrote about the situation in northern Gaza.

“At least 400,000 people are trapped in the area,’’ he said Gaza had become a graveyard for tens of thousands, including far too many children.