GAZA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. humanitarian group warned on Tuesday of a looming humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip due to Israel's siege and the West's cutoff of crucial aid.

    Mercy Corps warned at a news conference in Gaza City that the humanitarian and health situation in the Gaza Strip would further deteriorate if the political and economic blockades on the Palestinians continued.

    The group blamed the aid cutoff and border closings by Israel for the deepening crisis in the desert coastal strip, saying that the Israeli sealing of Gaza "significantly curtailed critical export revenues and imports of food and other goods."

    The group also stressed the necessity to take appropriate measures to confront what it described as a tragedy in the Gaza Strip and appealed to the international community to improve the situation.

    Key donors, including the United States and the European Union,have cut off direct aid to the Palestinian government led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) since the Islamic group,winning the January legislative polls, took the reins of the Palestinian administration in late March.

    Hamas has refused to renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and honor previous Palestinian-Israeli agreements.

    Israel has also halted the monthly transfer of about 50 million U.S. dollars of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians since Hamas' sweeping election victory.

    The EU and the U.S. are currently considering a new mechanism to give some humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, but the flow of money is not expected to come immediately.

    The aid cut and tax freezing have led to a grave financial crisis, of which ordinary Palestinians bear the brunt and the Hamas government has been unable to pay about 165,000 civil servants since March.

    Committed to helping people suffering from disasters, conflicts,chronic poverty, Mercy Corps is a U.S.-based humanitarian group,founded in 1979. Enditem