Humanitarian groups are scrambling to assist civilians caught in the war between Israel and Hamas and determine what aid operations are still safe to continue, efforts that are being complicated by an intensified blockade of Gaza and ongoing fighting. Two days after Hamas militants went on a rampage that took the world by surprise, Israel increased airstrikes on Gaza and blocked off food, fuel and other supplies from going into the territory, a move that raised concerns at the United Nations and among aid groups operating in the area home to 2.3 million people. Hamas, in turn, pledged to kill Israelis it abducted if the country’s military bombs civilian targets in Gaza without warning. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded on both sides, and aid groups operating in the region say there are needs both in Gaza and Israel. More than 2 tons of medical supplies from the Egyptian Red Crescent have been sent to Gaza and efforts are underway to organize food and other deliveries, according to an Egyptian military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. But the United Nations and other aid groups are pleading for more access to help Palestinians who find themselves in the middle of intense fighting. Doctors Without Borders, which is still operating in Gaza, has to rely on supplies it already has inside the territory because it can’t bring any more in, said Emmanuel Massart, a deputy desk coordinator with the organization in Brussels. Read: Israel's intelligence prowess questioned after Hamas attack The group — which says it only runs programs in Palestinian areas since Israel has strong emergency and health services — reported Monday that it provided treatments to more than 50 people following airstrikes at the Jabalia refugee camp located north of Gaza City. In addition to helping patients in Gaza, it said it was donating medical supplies to other clinics and hospitals, which have become overcrowded with patients and are experiencing shortages of drugs and fuel that can be used for generators. If Doctors Without Borders is not able to resupply fairly quickly, Massart said, it will run out of supplies it can use to operate on patients who might be wounded. He also said since the facilities the organization uses are running on generators due to the low supply of electricity, cutting off fuel will present a “huge problem.” “If there is no fuel anymore, there is no medical facilities anymore because we cannot run our medical facility without the energy,” Massart said. The war has also been deeply disruptive to work Mercy Corps has been doing to provide people in Gaza with necessities like food and water, said Arnaud Quemin, the Middle East regional director for the organization. Right now, he said the team on the ground is trying to find a scenario that would enable them to get back to work. The blockade of food and other supplies into Gaza is a major worry. “We are very concerned with the way things are going at this point because it looks like it’s going to get worse – very soon,” Quemin said. The sealing of Gaza, he said, will create “humanitarian needs very quickly.” Read: Israel intensifies its strikes and vows to besiege Gaza as it scours south for Hamas fighters Governments have also been weighing how to respond. As the fighting intensified, the European Union on late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was “immediately” suspending aid for Palestinian authorities. Instead, the 27-nation group said it would urgently review the assistance it provides in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israel. Two European countries — Germany and Austria — said they were suspending development aid for Palestinian areas. Meanwhile, some organizations are stepping up aid efforts in Israel, which has seen displacement because of the violence. Naomi Adler, CEO of Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, said a trauma center in Jerusalem that’s owned by the organization is treating wounded Israeli soldiers and civilians. About 90% of the patients in the center right now are soldiers, who are typically the first to be brought in for traumatic injuries, Adler said. But the center also accepts anyone who’s wounded or injured in the country. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, a Jewish humanitarian organization, said on Sunday that it was activating its emergency response team in Israel, where it runs programs to support people with disabilities, the elderly and children and families who’ve been impacted by the war and prior conflicts. The organization said it was working with its partners, including in the Israeli government, to address what it called an unprecedented emergency. JDC’s CEO Ariel Zwang said among other things the nonprofit is helping teachers, social workers and other caregivers provide support to those who’ve suffered trauma and tragedies from the events of the past few days. She said it will help nursey teachers, for example, explain to children why some of their classmates are suddenly missing. “If you’re a teacher now, if you know the children are traumatized, you need special skills and special training in order to manage what you’re experiencing and provide for the emotional needs, which are extraordinary at this time, of your youngest charges,” Zwang said. Read: Israel intensifies Gaza strikes and battles to repel Hamas, with over 1,100 dead in fighting so far One organization that helps Palestinian children is shifting its focus, too. Steve Sosebee, the president of Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a U.S.-based charity that helps children in need travel to the U.S. for medical treatment, said given the war, the fund is now looking away from long-term programs and toward more urgent needs for food, medication, clothing and other types of basic humanitarian aid. But like others, he noted the blockade and security risks to its Gaza staff makes it more challenging to do that. “There are no areas of security, there are no safe havens,” Sosebee said. “And therefore, it’s very difficult for us to be out in the field providing humanitarian aid when there are no safe places from the constant bombing and attacks that are taking place over the last 72 hours.” Read more: Everything you need to know about Hamas

India’s large diaspora — long a boon to India’s economy — is tapping its wealth, political clout and expertise to help its home country combat the catastrophic coronavirus surge that has left people to die outside overwhelmed hospitals. Around the world, people of Indian descent are donating money, personally delivering desperately needed oxygen equipment and setting up telehealth consultations and information sessions in hopes of beating back the outbreak. Two humanitarian groups in the U.S. led by people of Indian background raised more than $25 million in recent days to help the teetering health care system. Indian American doctors, hotel owners and other entrepreneurs, some responding to requests for help from Indian leaders, have pledged or donated millions more. In Britain, volunteers at three Hindu temples raised more than 600,000 pounds ($830,000) last weekend by racking up 20,127 kilometers (12,506 miles) on stationary bikes, or roughly three times the distance from London to New Delhi. And in Canada, Sikhs have donated between $700 and $2,000 to each of dozens of people in need of costly oxygen cylinders. Also Read:India hits another grim record as it scrambles oxygen supply The magnitude of the response reflects the deep pockets of many people in the overseas Indian community, as well as their deep ties to India, which have fueled similar efforts to help the country in the past. “I feel that this crisis has kind of sparked or triggered a fresh and new emotional affiliation to India,” said Nishant Pandey, CEO of the American India Foundation. The group launched a fundraising drive on April 24 that raked in roughly $20 million in a week, much of it from the Indian diaspora. The money will be used in part to expand hospital capacity and oxygen production in India. India’s official count of coronavirus cases surpassed 20 million this week, and deaths officially topped 220,000, though the true numbers are believed to be much higher. “Mother India is in dire need of the non-resident Indians to step up,” Hemant Patel, a hotel developer from Miami, said in an appeal for aid on WhatsApp. His efforts helped generate more than $300,000 in medical donations, he said. Patel traveled to his hometown of Navsari in the state of Gujarat in March to visit his mother after getting vaccinated and is now serving as a liaison between local hospitals and Indians in the U.S. He has also donated eight oxygen machines —- holding a religious ceremony to bless the first one — and paid to have a van outfitted with a stretcher and oxygen to serve COVID-19 patients. “God has put me in the right place at the right time,” he said. Some members of the overseas Indian community have appended harsh words to their support efforts, accusing the Indian government of botching the fight against the virus. Others, especially medical professionals, wish they could go to India but face travel restrictions there and new ones in the U.S., Britain and Canada. Sunil Tolani, CEO of a hotel and real estate company in California, said he donated $300,000 to help people in India during the surge and lobbied the Biden administration to step up its support. Other prominent Indian Americans have also pressed the White House for action. “If India would have put their act together, they wouldn’t need this help in the first place,” Tolani said, accusing the government there of “total complacency and incompetence.” The surge in infections since February has been blamed on more contagious variants of the virus as well as government decisions to allow huge crowds to gather for Hindu religious festivals and political rallies. Also Read:India's virus surge damages Modi's image of competence A spokesman for the Indian government, Prakash Javadekar, said it is ramping up hospital capacity and supplies of oxygen and drugs but is facing a “once-in-a-century crisis.” The U.S. last week began delivering treatments, rapid virus tests and oxygen along with materials needed for India to boost production of COVID-19 vaccines. Britain is also sending a substantial amount of aid. More than 6 million people of Indian descent live in the two countries — part of a diaspora the Indian government estimates at over 32 million, including nearly 3.5 million in the United Arab Emirates and just under 3 million in Malaysia. Donations are pouring in from non-Indians and corporations as well. Sikhs for Justice, an advocacy group that calls for an independent state for Sikhs in India, said the Indian government blocked its COVID-19 relief website, oxygenfund.org, that aimed to connect Indians who can’t afford surging prices for oxygen to Sikhs in the U.S., Canada and other countries willing to send them money. The group turned to WhatsApp and by Monday had managed to provide assistance to nearly 150 people, said its general counsel, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. An email to the Indian Embassy in Washington went unanswered. The Indian government has classified Sikhs for Justice as a terrorist group and banned it, Anshuman Gaur, India’s deputy high commissioner to Canada, told The Canadian Press. India is not shying away from soliciting help from its expatriates, continuing a long tradition of drawing on their money and patriotic fervor. In 1998, Indian leaders urged non-resident Indians to invest in the country by buying government bonds after the U.S. and other nations imposed sanctions against India for conducting nuclear tests. In 2001, disaster assistance from Indian Americans helped rebuild parts of Gujarat devastated by an earthquake that killed thousands. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in recent years has encouraged Indians overseas to contribute funds and expertise to his sanitation initiatives in India. During the current crisis, Indian consulate officials reached out to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, which responded by raising more than $2 million in about a week, President Sudhakar Jonnalagadda said. The group, which represents more than 80,000 doctors in the U.S., has used the money to buy oxygen concentrators and plans to expand a telehealth network to allow patients in India to consult with physicians in the U.S. Also Read:Indian government faces lockdown calls, contempt charges The virus’s rapid spread in India has left few people in the diaspora untouched by tragedy. Sajal Rohatgi, co-founder of Subziwalla.com, a U.S.-based South Asian grocery delivery service, said dozens of friends and family in India have contracted the virus and two have died. He and the company’s other founder, Manav Thaker, arranged for a U.S. virologist to give a talk on Instagram about India’s COVID-19 crisis and how people there can try to stay safe — information they say is lacking there. Their hope is that Indian Americans will convey the importance of masks, social distancing and vaccinations to their friends and family in India. “We really just want to give the right, credible information,” Thaker said. “Then maybe we’ll get some relief.”