An emergency worker from the Gaza Strip has spoken about the intensified siege of the coastal enclave by Israel.

Yusuf Alloh, 44, works with the charity Global Relief Trust, and has been working constantly on 21-hour-shifts helping survivors in the rubble of bombed out buildings and transporting victims to hospital in ambulances.

He said: “I am constantly busy with humanitarian work at the clinic due to having to attend scenes of bombings.”

The mosque in Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam which has been raided by Israeli soldiers and worshippers have been attacked in the compound on a number of occasions – including in the holy month of Ramadan - by settlers backed by the army.

Yusuf added: “We have been occupied for more than 70 years. In Gaza, we have been besieged for the past 16 years.

“Al Aqsa belongs not only to the Palestinians but actually to Muslims all over the world. We can’t live freely as other people around the world. We just want our basic rights.”

Hamas and Israel have gone to war in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2021. With disproportionate casualties on the Palestinian side as Israel has the most powerful army in the Middle East.

Yusuf said: “People in Gaza don’t have any hope for the future and what they will do. Many want to leave Gaza for a better future, but the people who remain will continue to live under a brutal occupation.

“So far, over 600 people have been killed and over 3,000 have been injured. The death toll is constantly growing and changes minute by minute. Israeli missiles have destroyed cities in the north and the centre of Gaza.

"They are targeting universities, mosques and schools and residential buildings without prior warning. No one is safe.”

Israel stated on Monday that their death toll has risen to at least 900. Another 2,500 were wounded in the shock attack.

Yusuf added. “They have destroyed a mosque in a refugee camp and buildings surrounding it. Massacres have taken place, including the massacre of 70 Gazans in one bombing. The figures can change by hundreds in an instant.

“In a refugee camp they bombed the market indiscriminately while people were shopping for basic goods.

“The bombings mainly happen between dusk and dawn when people are trying to sleep.”

“Some of my relatives have been injured and some have been killed. One of my neighbours told me that his building had been completely destroyed.

“In my home I am sheltering six other families so I am under a lot of pressure to help with food and basic amenities. Allah will reward us for helping out.

“There was already a blockade of Gaza but now its worse as they are bombing us by air and from the sea and from all our borders.

He continued: “This has forced people to move to the centre of Gaza thinking it is safer but there is no safe place in Gaza at the moment.

“The border with Egypt – the Rafa crossing - has been closed so we have nowhere to go, but we will remain here as it is our land.

“I ask for Muslims all over the world to pray for us, as only Allah can help us. I know Muslims want to support us by sending money, medical supplies, and building shelters.

“We need more political pressure on Israel, we want to live free and want the Al Aqsa mosque to be safe from being violated. This is the land of the Muslims, the land of the Prophet."