Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Guns Silent, Crisis Continues in Gaza


As sated Israeli guns fell silent after killing nearly 1300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, in Jerusalem’s three-week assault on Gaza, Aid agencies and friendly nations are calculating the tab for the massive damage done to the infrastructure in the region, and looking around for ways to overcome the modern-day Auschwitz.

United Nations says some 50,800 people are now homeless and 400,000 are without running water.

Correspondents in Gaza City say entire neighbourhoods have been flattened and bodies are still being recovered, reported the BBC website.

Israel says it will allow 143 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid into Gaza plus 60,000 litres of fuel.
A Red Cross spokesman said on Monday evening that 10 ambulances carrying medical supplies had travelled into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing in the south.

The arrival of food and fuel convoys into Gaza could not be ascertained.

Palestinian medical sources say at least 1,300 Palestinians have been killed and 5,500 injured during the conflict. Thirteen Israelis have been killed since the offensive began on 27 December.

Israel called a ceasefire on Saturday, saying it had met its war aims.

A BBC correspondent, who travelled to Jabaliya on the northern edge of Gaza City, says entire neighbourhoods have disappeared.

As the ceasefire continues to hold, Palestinians in Gaza are returning home to assess the damage.

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, is planning to visit Gaza on Tuesday to inspect the damage.

The director of Unrwa ops in Gaza, John Ging, said most important now was how to get basic supplies into the territory.

He added that the colossal recovery and reconstruction operation facing Aid agencies was not possible unless crossing points were opened.

He iterated that Unrwa was keen to reopen schools, where tens of thousands of Palestinians continued to be in shelter on Monday.

Cracks among Arab nations were visible at an Arab League summit in Kuwait that was dominated by the excruciating Israeli attack on Gaza.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Hamas invited the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip by refusing to extend a six-month truce that expired in December.
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad urged Arab leaders to adopt a resolution declaring Israel a terrorist entity, and support the Palestinian cause.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called for immediate reconciliation talks among Palestinian factions, along with parliamentary and presidential elections.

The league discussed a proposal for a $2bn fund for reconstruction in Gaza, with Saudi King Abdullah saying his country would donate $1bn.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he wanted troops to leave Gaza "as quickly as possible", and some have already left.

Anonymous Israeli officials, quoted by AP news agency, said the withdrawal would be completed before US President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.

With world attention hovering around those left dead, wounded, orphaned and homeless, Israel may still continue to block supplies to the region, in an action so blatantly reminiscent of tactics employed by Nazi Germany.

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