UNITED NATIONS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon on Wednesday announced restrictive measures targeting the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), including the denial of a visa renewal for a senior OCHA official and a one-month limit on visas for the agency's international staff.

OCHA responded that the reduction of staff might stifle the "already curtailed efforts."

"Today, I announce that Israel will take steps to ensure that what has been happening with OCHA will no longer continue," Danon told an open debate of the Security Council. "Israel will no longer grant automatic visas to OCHA's international staff. Visas will now be limited to one-month terms."

Jonathan Whittall, OCHA's head of office for the occupied Palestinian territory, will not have his visa renewed, and he will leave Israel by July 29, said Danon.

The Israeli permanent representative to the UN claimed that Whittall "has consistently and outrageously demonstrated his bias and agenda against the State of Israel."

Danon said hundreds of OCHA employees are undergoing security vetting by Israel and key employees will not have their permits renewed.

Responding to the announcement, OCHA spokeswoman Eri Kaneko said: "Any reduction of our own staff will stifle our already curtailed efforts to reach civilians across Gaza in urgent need of life-saving humanitarian aid." ■