Hamas offers conditional ceasefire

Hamas and several allied Palestinian factions have announced a conditional, one-week ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, giving Israel seven days to pull out of the territory.

The move, following a meeting of the factions in Damascus, comes a day after Israel announced a unilateral ceasefire, ending its 22-day offensive in Gaza which has left at least 1,203 Palestinians dead.

"We in the Palestinian resistance movements announce a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand that enemy forces withdraw in a week and open all the border crossings to permit the entry of humanitarian aid and basic goods," Mousa Abu Marzuk, deputy leader of Hamas's political bureau, said in Damascus on Sunday.

Besides Hamas, Palestinian factions at the Damascus meeting included Islamic Jihad, Al Nidal, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and al Saeqa.

Israeli response

The Israel military said on Sunday that troops withdrawals had begun from key positions in and around Gaza City.

However, Israel earlier said that it will not consider a timetable for withdrawing all of its forces from the Gaza Strip until Hamas and other groups halt their fire.

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Sunday, Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokesperson, said: "I am sorry, Hamas will not give Israel a deadline to pull out its troops.

"We will pull out the troops if and when we will decide that a permanent safe and secure situation has arrived in our country - which has not [yet]. Since from the morning we were targeted by 16 rockets from Hamas.

"We have to assess the situation every day and then see whether we are heading towards a stable secure situation or [if] we have to continue the operation.

"The operation is not over. This is only a holding of fire."

'Objectives achieved'

Palestinian factions have continued to fire rockets into southern Israel since the beginning of the offensive, killing three Israelis, out of a total of 13 Israelis that have died since the begining of the war.
They have also been fighting Israel's ground forces which enterd the Gaza Strip in the second week of the offensive.

An end to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip into Israel was the stated aim of the Israeli offensive.

Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday, with Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, stating that the country had achieved its objectives.

"We have reached all the goals of the war, and beyond," he said. "[But] if our enemies decide to strike and want to carry on, then the Israeli army will regard itself as free to respond with force."

Olmert also said the war boosted Israel's deterrence and that Hamas's actions would decide when the military would withdraw.

"This operation strengthened the deterrence of the state of Israel in the face of all those who threaten us," he said.

"If Hamas completely stops its attacks, we will judge at what moment we will leave the Gaza Strip."

'Symbolic victory'

However, Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said some in the Gaza Strip are claiming a victory for Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

"On an operational level on the last day of the war and even after the war Palestinian factions are still capable of firing rockets, no doubt about that.
"In fact, more than a dozen or so have been fired today according to the factions here on the ground.

"On a symbolic level, at the end of the day the Palestinian people remain here on the ground, having paid a very heavy price though.

"Their position was one of steadfast defiance. The fact that they can stay and essentially ... claim that they have been able to stave off this aggression, in terms of the leadership and the command and control structure of Hamas and the government here, is certainly a sign for many here that they have been victorious."

'Extremely fragile'

At least 16 rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel on Sunday morning after it declared its ceasefire.

Israel responded with air attacks, according to Israeli sources.

Barnaby Phillips, Al Jazeera's correspondent, reporting from near the Gaza-Israel border, said that the situation is extremely fragile.

"This ceasefire ... could go horribly wrong at any moment. There are thousands of troops in Gaza. We did see some withdraw we think this morning, we are not sure of numbers but they are in close proximity to Hamas fighters," he said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

children have to "pay war Gaza"

Children are bearing the brunt of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has said.

More than 300 children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in Israel's aerial and ground assault, Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said in a statement released on Wedneday.

She said: "Each day more children are being hurt, their small bodies wounded, their young lives shattered. This is tragic. This is unacceptable.

"They are bearing the brunt of a conflict which is not theirs.

"As fighting reaches the heart of heavily populated urban areas, the impact of lethal weapons will carry an even heavier toll on children."

Lost childhood

Veneman said the war and bloodshed in Gaza would cause long-term psychological damage to children.
"The crisis in Gaza is singular in that children and their families have nowhere to escape, no refuge. The very thought of being trapped in a closed area is disturbing for adults in peace times," she said.

"What then goes through the mind of a child who is trapped in such relentless violence?"

Israel has said that it is trying to minimise civilian casualties as it targets Hamas fighters and their infrastructure, but Palestinian children are being subjected to harrowing experiences.

"I saw the soldier standing next to the shop. I looked for my mum and then he shot me. One bullet him my hand and the other went through my back and out through my stomach," Samar, a young girl, told Al Jazeera while recovering from her wounds at a Gaza hospital.

Amal, another young girl, wailed: "We have nothing to do with this, we don't fire rockets, we don't know what this war is about."

More than 40,000 pregnant women and their unborn children were also believed to be at risk because Gaza's overwhelmed hospitals were unable to take them in.

Traumatised

Dr Walid Sarhan, a Jordanian psychiatrist, said that if nothing is done to help traumatised children Gaza would begin to see advanced cases of psychiatric problems.
"The main one would be post-traumatic stress disorder, which is expected to rise 60 or 70 per cent among children," he said.

"Also they will have behavioural and emotional problems. They will have difficulties returning to school, going on to achieve in school, and this will not be in small numbers."

Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, said that thousands of children in southern Israel were also suffering because of Palestinian rocket fire.

"Two weeks before this crisis started I went down south with my prime minister, Mr Olmert ... and he was given letters from fourth graders I believe, children who are nine and 10-years-old, who their entire lives have been on the incoming end of these Hamas rockets," he told Al Jazeera.

"You have a whole generation of Israeli children who unfortunately suffering similar trauma."
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Death toll in Gaza exceeds 800

The Palestinian death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 831 people and more than 3,350 injured as the Israeli offensive enters its third week.

The attacks continued on Saturday with Israeli aircraft bombarding smuggling tunnels near the Rafah border crossing and ground forces advancing further into the outskirts of Gaza City.

Eight members of one family were among the latest fatalities, killed by an Israeli tank shell in Jabalya.

"We were at home when the bombing started," Umm Mohammed, one of the survivors of the attack, said. "We fled towards another house and the tanks started firing. Several of us were hit."

Israel dropped leaflets on Gaza City warning residents that the military was about to "escalate" the offensive and begin a "new phase in the war on terror".

The notices told residents not to approach Hamas members, the group's fighters or weapons depots.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said there had been a lot of intense fighting.

"The most significant development was the advance of the Israeli military," he said.

"We understand now they are on the outskirts of Gaza City, still trying to avoid going in through major population centres, but navigating their way around those urban areas on the periphery."

Gazans 'locked in'

Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor working at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera: "We have been to many war zones, but the special thing is that the 1.5 Gaza population are completely locked in.

"The civilian population has no way to hide. The population density is so high you can not do attacks like this without knowing that you are attacking the civilians.
"Also, the injuries must come from extremely explosive devices. We suspect that Israel is using a new type of high explosive called Dime [dense inert metal explosive].

"We urge the world, stop the bombing of Gaza. Please stop it."

Since Israel launched its offensive 15 days ago, 13 Israelis have died, including three civilians.

Palestinian fighters fired at least 10 rockets into Israel on Saturday, slightly wounding two people.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from the Gaza-Israel border, said that number was down significantly over the past two days, from about 30-40 daily since Israel's assault began.

"It may well be that's because the Israeli army is taking over more of the land where these rockets are fired from," he said. "But it also may be that Hamas is running out of rockets to fire into Israel."

"From that point of view, I'm sure the Israeli public believe that this has been a successful operation because it is reducing the capacity of Hamas to fire rockets into southern Israel."

The Israeli military also said on Saturday that it had killed a senior Hamas fighter, who it claimed had supervised rocket launchings.

Amir Mansi was the "leading Hamas authority with regard to the long-range Grad missile launching programme" and commanded a cell in Gaza City that had fired dozens of rockets on southern Israel, the military said in a statement.

A Hamas spokesman confirmed that Mansi was a member of the movement's armed wing but refused to give his rank. He is the son of Yusef Mansi, the minister of telecommunications in Gaza's Hamas-run government.

Diplomatic efforts

A senior Hamas delegation was in the Egyptian capital to make their remarks on the Egyptian plan aimed at ending the fighting.

A binding resolution passed by the UN security council late on Thursday failed to bring peace to the Gaza Strip, with Israel arguing that it has the right to self-defence.

Egypt's plan includes an immediate cessation of hostilities for a specified period, the opening of Gaza's crossings, curtailment of arms smuggling into the Strip and attempts at reconciliation talks between the Palestinian factions.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, also in Cairo, said the Egyptian plan would facilitate progress on a ceasefire.

The UN, meanwhile, has said that it will resume its work in the Gaza Strip after receiving safety assurances from Israeli authorities.

A UN statement said that Israel had given "credible assurances that the security of UN personnel installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected".

The UN stopped aid shipments after one of its lorries was shot at by Israeli forces, killing the driver, two days ago.

The majority of the 1.5 million people living in the Gaza Strip depend on foreign aid for survival and the humanitarian situation has worsened as the offensive has continued.

"We are receiving reports that some people are starting to burn their furniture to bake bread and to cook," Christopher Gunness, UN relief and works agency spokesman, said on Saturday.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

$90mn collected during TV Gaza fundraisers

By Andy Sambidge

TV fundraising campaigns in the UAE and Bahrain have raised a total of $90 million to help the Palestinian people in Gaza strip.

The nationwide fundraisers, aired through all TV and radio stations on Friday, saw $86 milllion raised in the UAE and $4 million in Bahrain, while solidarity marches also took place simultaneously in four of the emirates.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of UAE Red Crescent Authority (RCA) and Head of the Office of Coordination of Foreign Aid, thanked UAE residents for their generosity, saying that the donations received had exceeded expectations, news agency WAM reported.
Sheikh Hamdan said the RCA, in association with the humanitarian relief and charity organisations in the UAE, would coordinate with international aid organisations to ensure the aid bought by donations would be distributed as soon as possible.

The rulers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai pledged to rebuild 1,200 homes in Gaza, while Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Minister of the Interior, pledged to rebuild 100 houses.

The NMC Hospital also gave 1.4 million dirhams of medical equipment as part of the fundraising initiative.

Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Minister of Presidential Affairs, also pledged to build an extension to al Shafaa Hospital in Gaza while the Western Region donated 150,000 dirhams and 110 grammes of gold.

In Bahrain, the main contributors were Bahrain National Committee for the Support of Palestinians in Gaza chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and leading businessman YBA Kanoo, who donated 100,000 dinars ($265,000) each. BBK donated $300,000 while NBB, Batelco, Alba and Bapco contributed 100,000 dinars each.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 men, woman and children turned out in four emirates to make sure the people of Palestine were not forgotten.

In Sharjah, an estimated 5,000 gathered along Khaled Lagoon draped in Palestinian flags and wearing traditional black and white scarves, or kaffiyeh.

In Abu Dhabi, about 4,000 demonstrated along the Corniche Road while in Dubai, supporters gathered in Greek Park, waving flags and placards.

Hundreds donned the kaffiyeh in Ras al Khaimah to demonstrate outside Manar Mall.

Source. ArabianBusiness.com

Israel sends reservists into Gaza

Israel has begun sending reserve units into the Gaza Strip as the military continues to pound the territory for the 16th consecutive day.

The move came amid some of the most intense fighting since the ground offensive began on January 3, with Palestinian fighters putting up stiff resistance to the Israeli advance around Gaza City.

Israel has not specified how many extra troops it is sending in, but it called up tens of thousands of reservists two weeks ago after it launched the air, naval, and land bombardment of the territory.

"I can confirm that a few reserve units have entered Gaza to participate in the operation," major Avital Leibovich, an Israeli military spokeswoman, told Al Jazeera.

"We are not talking about a massive amount of forces, rather a limited one to join in the fighting."

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from the Israel-Gaza border, said: "I think what we are seeing here is preparations for what the media, according to the Israelis, is calling stage three, which is moving troops into the towns and cities of Gaza.

"They have called up a number of reservists, but by no means all the reservists that have been put on standby, and moved them into Gaza.

"They are there, ready for if the word comes that stage three is to begin. If there is to be this massive push then the soldiers are there ready to act," he said.

Palestinian fears

Medical sources said that dozens of Palestinian fighters were killed in clashes on Sunday, taking the total number of Palestinian deaths since Israel began its war on the territory to 890, many of them women and children.
Almost 4,000 Palestinians have also been wounded since the beginning of the offensive.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said that the Israeli manouevres had raised speculation that a full attack on targets in the city was being planned for the coming days.

Israeli tanks were positioned on the edge of the city to the north and east, while a column of tanks to the south advanced only to later pull back.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, told an Israeli cabinet meeting on Sunday that the military had nearly completed the goals set for the war on Gaza.

"Israel is getting close to achieving the goals it set for itself," he said.

He told ministers that Israel had "dealt Hamas an unprecedented blow ... It will never be the same Hamas," Oved Yehezkel, the Israeli cabinet secretary, said.

The cabinet meeting had been expected to include discussion of a possible "third stage" of the offensive in which the military would enter Gaza's urban areas.

However, several Israeli officials suggested that the offensive could be drawing to a close after last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

"The decision of the security council doesn't give us much leeway," Matan Vilnai, the deputy defence minister, told public radio.

"Thus it would seem that we are close to ending the ground operation and ending the operation altogether."

Military goals

Giroa Eiland, a former Israeli national security adviser, told Al Jazeera that there was a debate within the Israeli government and security establishment about what the goals of the operation should be at this stage.

"The main question is how to conclude and accomplish the missions," he said.
"As far as I can understand one of the reasons the military option might be expended is in order to give an Israeli solution to the situation."

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli official, was expected to travel to Cairo in the coming days to discuss a plan to end the fighting after Hamas officials met Egyptian officials on Sunday.

The Israeli military onslaught has, so far, failed to achieve the stated aim of stopping Palestinian fighters from firing rockets into southern Israel.

At least 17 rockets had been fired across the border by mid-afternoon on Sunday, but failed to cause any casualties.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the military offensive began, including three civilians hit by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

Khaled Meshaal, the exiled political chief of Hamas, said Hamas would not accept any truce initiative while "we are still under attack".

"I address the Israelis and say to them; 'What have you achieved through this war you have supported? And you supported your leaders to conduct it,'" he said.

"You have achieved nothing but killing innocent children and leaving Gaza in a sea of blood."

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

UN watchdog condemns war on Gaza

A resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza has been adopted by the UN Human Rights Council.

The non-binding resolution, approved in Geneva on Monday, said Israel's operation had "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".

More than 900 Palestinians have died during the fighting, many of them women and children, and a further 4,100 have been wounded.

At least 25,000 have been displaced due to the ongoing bombardment, but are unable to flee the overcrowded territory as crossing points remain closed.

The resolution, drafted by Arab, Asian and African countries, called for an international mission to be sent immediately to the Gaza Strip to investigate Israel's actions.

It also called for an immediate end to the "launching of the crude rockets against Israeli civilians" by the Palestinian factions.
Israel launched its operation on December 27 after a ceasefire with Hamas ended a week earlier, stating its objective was to target the Palestinian faction's infrastructure and bring an end to the firing of homemade rockets into southern Israel.

'Fairytale world'

Fewer states than expected supported the resolution, which passed by 33 votes to one, with 13 abstentions. The US, not a member of the council, took no part in the debate.

Israel dismissed it as one-sided and reflecting the "fairytale world" of the 47-member council.

The text of the document said the council "strongly condemns the ongoing Israeli military operations ... which have resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people and systematic destruction of the Palestinian infrastructure".

The resolution was opposed by Canada while European countries, Japan and South Korea abstained.

The resolution was backed by, among others, Russia, China, Argentina and Brazil.

During a debate on the resolution, Pakistan, speaking for the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), denounced what it called Israel's "unrestrained use of force, killing of innocent civilians" and violation of UN havens.

At least 40 people died last Tuesday when the UN-run school they were sheltering in was hit by Israeli fire.

'Massive violations'

All European Union countries abstained and Canada voted against the resolution.

Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera: "In the end they [the UN] passed the resolution, it was not unanimous. I would not say it was that heated, at the end of the day there were still differences of opinion.
"Many states praised the Palestinian delegation for the flexibility they had shown in the negotiations, but they could not quite reach a consensus."

Speaking in the Gaza Strip, John Ging, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) operations in Gaza, repeated his call for an immediate end to the fighting.

"I say now, to all politicians, here in Israel and internationally, you have an obligation to the ordinary people in the name of humanity and all that is civilised, we need to stop this now. Those who help will never be forgotten.

"Israel is responsible for its own actions and it is very clear to us that there are a lot of actions in this conflict that will need to be fully investigated independently and internationally.

"Those who have been killed and injured, those who are innocent, deserve accountability."

Peter Splinter, Amnesty International's representative at the United Nations in Geneva, backed the call for an investigation, saying "there must be a full accountability for war crimes".

"Evidence of war crimes is presenting itself each day," he told Al Jazeera.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a former UN secretary-general, added his perspective on the situation, saying the assault on Gaza "is a present the Israelis gave to the fundamentalists".

"It will reinforce extremists, fundamentalists, all over Arab countries and even inside Israel," he said.

Boutros-Ghali was headed the UN from 1992 to 1997.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Israel pushes further into Gaza

The Swiss Red Cross has criticised the Israelis for 'targeting Palestinian ambulance crews'

Israeli troops have made their deepest push yet into Gaza since the beginning of the 18-day-old conflict, as Palestinians prepare for another night of heavy shelling.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force had hit what it described as 60 Hamas targets overnight, while 19 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel in the same period.

Israeli jets have continued to pound the city of Rafah in southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

Israel is using "bunker-busting" bombs in an attempt to destroy underground tunnels it says have been used to smuggle weapons and goods into the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Ayman Mohyeldin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza, said tens of thousands of Palestinians had fled their homes after the Israeli military dropped leaflets warning them of intensive air strikes.
"A large part of Rafah has been completely reduced to rubble... it has been described as hell on earth by some of the witnesses we have met," he said.

Moyheldin said Israeli troops were also closing in on Gaza City, which is now surrounded by both tanks and navy vessels along the coast.

He said the Israelis appeared to be intensifying their assault on Gaza City after dark.

"The pattern [that is emerging is] the Israeli military engaging overnight in fierce fighting and then by early morning the military returns to its position.

"As the sun sets around us that's what many Palestinians are bracing themselves for - another night of deadly and intense firing," Mohyeldin said.
Israelis 'softening up' targets

Mohyeldin said there was speculation that Israeli soldiers were limiting their operation during the day because of stiff resistance from Palestinian fighters on the ground during daylight hours.

Many also suggest that the Israelis might also be looking to "soften up" what they believe to be Hamas targets - such as booby-trapped homes and weapons stores.

Al Jazeera - the only international broadcaster with journalists based both inside Gaza and Israel - reported on Tuesday that the heaviest fighting between Israeli and Palestinian fighters was in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City.

Serious clashes were also reported in Beit Lahiya, to the north of the city, and east of Khan Younis.

The AFP news agency reported Israeli tanks, supported by warplanes, had moved into several southern neighbourhoods of Gaza City and that Palestinian fighters were responding with mortar fire.

A spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry said dozens of calls for ambulances had been received, but none could be dispatched because of the fighting.

Combat continued despite another day of pleas from both the United Nations and the European Union to stop the violence, which has so far killed around 970 Palestinians and wounded 4,300 others.

Civilians make up about 40 per cent of casualties, with the majority of those being women and children.

Diplomatic frustration

Expressing frustration at the failure of both sides to adhere to a legally binding UN resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he planned to visit the region in a bid to help end Israel's air and ground offensive in Gaza, as well as Hamas rocket fire into southern Israel.
"To both sides, I say: just stop, now," the UN chief told a news conference on Monday. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering. Too many people, Israelis and Palestinians, live in daily fear of their lives."

But Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, said the offensive which includes the latest deployment of reservists into Palestinian neighbourhoods, must continue until Hamas is completely disarmed.

He said the military operation would end once Hamas's military wing halted its rocket attacks.

"We want to end the operation when the two conditions we have demanded are met: ending the rocket fire and stopping Hamas's rearmament. If these two conditions are met, we will end our operation in Gaza," he said in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon.

The Israeli military said air raids were carried out on at least 25 targets across the Gaza Strip and Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, said on Monday that the army had "achieved in 16 days what no other country in the world fighting terror has done in 16 years".

Ismail Haniya, the Hamas leader and ousted Palestinian prime minister, said that Israel would not emerge victorious from Gaza City.

"This holy blood that has been spilt will never be in vain, it will make the victory. The children's and women's blood and bodies will be a curse which will haunt this occupation," he said.

Meanwhile, Christer Zettergren, the secretary-general of the Swedish Red Cross, said seven ambulances operated by the Red Crescent were damaged last week in Gaza.

Zettergren on Tuesday accused Israeli soldiers of firing at emergency crews and described the shootings as "very deliberate".

He is due to travel to the region on Wednesday to donate 10 ambulances to the Red Crescent.

Also on Tuesday, the AFP news agency reported that the US military had been forced to cancel a shipment of munitions from a Greek port to a US warehouse in Israel because of objections from Athens.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

HRW: Israeli Should Allow Humanitarian Groups Into Gaza

JERUSALEM, January 14, 2009 (WAFA)- Israel should immediately allow humanitarian groups broad access to Gaza and the evacuation of the wounded to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population,Human Rights Watch said in a report released, Tuesday.

Human Rights Watch also urged the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is to visit Israel on January 15, to take urgent steps to help alleviate the suffering of Gazan civilians.

Nineteen months of a highly restrictive blockade and two weeks of intense military operations have left Gazans in desperate need of food, water, electricity, and sanitation. Medical care is woefully inadequate to deal with the thousands wounded in the fighting. Civilians have nowhere to flee the aerial and ground attacks engulfing the Strip.

Human Rights Watch said that United Nations agencies have only been able to reach a small portion of those dependent on aid, which includes more than 80 percent of the population, since the Israeli offensive began on December 27, 2008. The electricity supply has slightly improved in recent days but remains low, and in some places open sewage is spilling into the streets. The ongoing fighting is preventing many families from leaving their homes to purchase food or obtain food aid. Children, who make up 56 percent of Gaza's residents, are especially vulnerable.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks in Gaza had killed at least 997 Palestinians and wounded another 4525. More than 311 children and 100 women are among the dead; more than 1,459 children and 625 women had been wounded. According to the UN, more than 40% of the dead and 50% of the wounded are women and children.

'Gaza was in the midst of a humanitarian crisis even before this fighting started due to Israel's unlawful blockade, aided by Egypt's cooperation in keeping its border with Gaza closed,' said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch 'And now it is facing a catastrophe.'

The wounded are getting only rudimentary care from facilities that lack equipment, material and personnel. Hospitals have been running full-time on generators since December 30, when Gaza's only power plant stopped functioning, and in some hospitals, generator fuel is running low. According to humanitarian agencies and medical officials, many patients are needlessly dying because of a lack of timely medical care. A key problem has been the inability to transfer seriously wounded persons out of Gaza. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, at least 413 wounded were in critical condition as of January 11.

'The UN secretary-general's visit is an opportunity to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the need for protecting civilians,' said Roth. 'He needs to lean on all actors, protect civilians, and ensure accountability. Only an impartial international investigation can achieve that.'
Source: AJP