Post Israeli war crimes here; We told you Israel uses WP when AP was still calling it "smoke bombs",

[larsonstdoc]

The office said the goal was to "prevent a humanitarian crisis".

  Olhmert, this is a humanitarian crisis all ready--no food, no heat, no water.

[independentWV]

Look how much aid was turned away and Argentina is on the way to Gaza with aid lets see what happens. I just knew they would say Hamas was in the school - liars.

[lee51]

psychicpollution--I totally agree with you! To purposely target places where there are innocent children is unconscionable!

[Revolt426]

Israel has nullified Hamas' Main tactic, which is hiding amongst women and children to avoide airstrikes. Israel is now killing women and children if Hamas is near, they no longer care. The end will justify the means for them this time, they have learned this from Lebanon. This is not going to be pretty and will not end for atleast a few weeks.

[Revolt426]

The Haaretz laid out the scenerio 3 days ago and i posted it. Israel's new strategy is to bomb Hamas leaders and Militants even if their family / Children are in the area, in Lebonan they called off airstrikes when they saw civilians. Now they are showing no mercy at all, admitted by Haaretz, they want to show Hamas pure hell and make them keel over to a cease fire in which Hamas gains nothing and is severly damaged or completely destroyed.

Should we move this to the Gaza Forum?

[Dig]

"Gaza aid corridor"?!?!?!?!

Is that like giving a bandaid to the mother of a child that has been just cut in half?


STOP FRICKING BOMBING!

STOP USING WHITE PHOSPHOROUS AND DU!

STOP STARVING PEOPLE AND ALLOWING THE NWO TO RUN EUGENICS PROGRAMS IN OCCUPIED LANDS!

STAND UP AND FIGHT AGAINST THE BRITISH ROYALS/US ELITES!

END THE EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY!

[OldSchool]

Exactly!! They have to be civil in order to abide by legitimate ceasefire. Just like the Lebanon war, they carpet bombed the place on the last day of the war.
 They should also include the dehumanization of the West Bank also.

[Revolt426]

This isn't exactly like Lebanon.. Israel has Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan backing them and is not calling off airstrikes to avoid civilian casualties. And there is no press coverage. I personally think Israel has a tremendous upper hand here, unlike in Lebanon.

[oyashango]

Depleted uranium found in Gaza victims
Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:16:21 GMT
 
 
Medics tell Press TV they have found traces of depleted uranium in some Gaza residents wounded in Israel's ground offensive on the strip.

Norwegian medics told Press TV correspondent Akram al-Sattari that some of the victims who have been wounded since Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip on December 27 have traces of depleted uranium in their bodies.

The report comes after Israeli tanks and troops swept across the border into Gaza on Saturday night, opening a ground operation after eight days of intensive attacks by Israeli air and naval forces on the impoverished region.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Sunday that the wide-ranging ground offensive in the Gaza Strip would be "full of surprises."

A ground offensive in the densely-populated Gaza is expected to drastically increase the death toll of the civilian population.

The latest assaults bring the number of Palestinians killed to over 488 with 2790 others wounded. The UN says that about 25 percent of the casualties were civilian deaths - including at least 34 children.

According to Israeli army officials, at least 30 of its soldiers have been wounded since the start of the ground campaign.

Amid global condemnation of the ongoing violence in the region, the UN Security Council failed to agree on a united approach to resolve the crisis.

"Once again, the world is watching in dismay the dysfunctionality of the Security Council," UN General Assembly chief Miguel d'Escoto said Sunday.

According to diplomatic sources, the US blocked a Security Council resolution, with US Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff arguing that an official statement that criticizes both Israel and Hamas would not be helpful.

The White House has so far declined to comment on whether an Israeli ground incursion into Gaza is a justified measure.

AA/DT/CS/MD
 http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=80443&sectionid=351020202

[OldSchool]

This isn't exactly like Lebanon.. Israel has Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan backing them and is not calling off airstrikes to avoid civilian casualties. And there is no press coverage. I personally think Israel has a tremendous upper hand here, unlike in Lebanon.

 You're right there. I was just stating how the IDF/IAF had to leave the final long lasting scar in Lebanon by cluster bombing. Israel has a HUGE upper hand at this point as they are the pivotal point in the unravelling events to take place.

[Nile]

If this truly happens, it will at least be something. Not remotely enough, but something....

[larsonstdoc]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1053171.html

Egypt bars doctors from entering Gaza Strip

By The Associated Press

Tags: Israel News, Gaza, Israel

RAFAH - Frustration is mounting at Egypt's border with the Gaza
Strip, where many local and foreign doctors are stuck after Egyptian
authorities denied them entry into the coastal area now under an Israeli
ground invasion.

Anesthesiologist Dimitrios Mognie from Greece idles his time at a cafe near the border, drinking tea and chatting with other doctors, aid workers and curious Egyptians.



"This is a shame," said Mognie, who decided to use his vacation time to try help Gazans. He thought entering through Egypt, which has a narrow border with the Hamas-ruled strip, was his best bet.

"That in 2009 they have people in need of help from a doctor and we can go to help and they won't let us; this is crazy," he added.

Gaza's few hospitals have been swamped by the numbers of injured; health
officials there reported more than 550 Palestinians dead and 2,500 wounded, including 200 civilians, since Israel embarked upon its military campaign designed to stop Gaza's Islamic Hamas from launching rockets at Israel on December 27.

Mognie and a colleague, both part of the Greek organization Doctors for Peace, came to Rafah four days ago, loaded with instruments and medical supplies. Egyptian border guards turn them back daily.

Mognie, who said he has worked in conflict zones such as Iraq, Angola and
Somalia, added that he understood worries over security but that he was
willing to take the risk to help the people in Gaza.

Along with Israel, Egypt has maintained the closure of the Gaza border,
imposed after Hamas took control of the area in June 2007. However, the
Egyptian closure has been seen by some as abetting Israel's siege of the
crowded strip, home to 1.4 million people.

Since Israel's offensive, Egypt has taken in a trickle of wounded Palestinians from Gaza through the crossing in the border town of Rafah. Cairo, the main mediator between Israel and Hamas, has said it would only open Rafah if moderate Palestinian forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are in charge of the crossing.

Calls to Egypt to ease the border bottleneck - where aid convoys first have to have their cargo unloaded from Egyptian trucks before it's loaded onto Palestinian ones and taken into the strip - have increased, including from Hamas allies such as Iran.

Although Egypt allowed two Norwegian doctors into Gaza on Dec. 31, the
majority of physicians are frustrated at their inability to get in.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi said Monday the his
government submitted a formal request to Egypt to set up a desert hospital on Egyptian territory near the Gaza Strip to receive wounded Gazans.

Palestinian doctor Abed el-Qader Lubbad, who works in the intensive care at Shifa Hospital in Gaza, arrived in one of the ambulances transporting patients to Egypt on Monday. Out of the eight patients he ferried, one seriously wounded died on the way to the border, Lubbad said.

The Palestinian ambulances are not allowed to continue driving through Egypt. At the crossing, patients are taken out of the often poorly equipped Palestinian ambulances and transferred on gurneys to Egyptian ambulances.

On Monday, at least 18 Palestinian patients were brought to Egypt, according to Mohammad Arafat, a Palestinian representative in Rafah. The wounded included a man missing both legs and another who lost his eye and fractured his skull.

Another physician at Rafah was obstetrician Jemilah Mahmood from Mercy
Malaysia. She said her group worked with the Egyptian Red Crescent to bring around $100,000 worth of medical supplies to the border for transport to Gaza.And while equipment eventually got through, Mahmoud said neither she nor her colleagues are allowed to cross.

"Can you imagine how many women are hurt and how few women doctors there are?" she

[lovealexjones]

this ain't about Hamas, this is about children being locked in a chage and murdered.
no.1 issue today.
911, chemtrails, obaaama, bla bla bla...

israel la puta

[lovealexjones]

Gaza no.1 issue today.
this ain't about Hamas, this is about children being locked in a chage and murdered.
were next.

israel la puta

[Anti_Illuminati]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWpFkhH2AZA

[CFF]

f**king savages.

[Monkeypox]

Obviously self-defense.

 

[Filthy Rich]

"Oh come on, they were just teasing the little terrorists"

[/sarcasm OFF]

Funny how 'civilized' folks think that only police and military are trustworthy enough to have guns, when it seems that it's the police and military who like to misuse them on the populace.

[Revolt426]

this ain't about Hamas, this is about children being locked in a chage and murdered.
no.1 issue today.
911, chemtrails, obaaama, bla bla bla...

israel la puta

Actually, Israel and Hamas are both being used. But the goal? It is purely to destabalize and allow the raping of economies and populations. Regardless of who does what, they are puppets.

[Revolt426]

Hamas is using human sheilds, but when you get to the point they are at  you are all willing to die rather than be shit on. They are staying in houses full of women and children as Hezbollah did in Lebanon and Israel is taking them out anyway. They are both being played off against each other, no real Israeli leader nor Hamas leader would attack each other right after a cease fire expired for no reason.

The Netenyahu threat is a conjured one. Conjured by the Saudi's, or the British. He is the one that caused this mess. He used dirty politics to make Olmert look horrible , then the spark, a hamas rocket hits Israel, the reaction, Netenyahu comes out and says to Olmert to "Stand up to Hamas". All this, just over a month before the Israeli elections. The Hamas rockets are even in question as to Hamas even fired it.

This is another Setup to pin one group against another, and if you read history you will see this pattern dating back 600+ years, mainly to the origins of the British Empire. This is not new, the only thing that is new is the Media spin, and the Internet allowing people to see what is actually happening. 

[Revolt426]

K that was not necassery but what kind of idiot stands in front of an Israeli Tank during a war.

[iceman2]

I wonder how much Bush and the bandit gang are making or getting out of this for keeping out of it and doing nothing?

[Biggs]

Hamas is using human sheilds, but when you get to the point they are at  you are all willing to die rather than be shit on. They are staying in houses full of women and children as Hezbollah did in Lebanon and Israel is taking them out anyway. They are both being played off against each other, no real Israeli leader nor Hamas leader would attack each other right after a cease fire expired for no reason.

The Netenyahu threat is a conjured one. Conjured by the Saudi's, or the British. He is the one that caused this mess. He used dirty politics to make Olmert look horrible , then the spark, a hamas rocket hits Israel, the reaction, Netenyahu comes out and says to Olmert to "Stand up to Hamas". All this, just over a month before the Israeli elections. The Hamas rockets are even in question as to Hamas even fired it.

This is another Setup to pin one group against another, and if you read history you will see this pattern dating back 600+ years, mainly to the origins of the British Empire. This is not new, the only thing that is new is the Media spin, and the Internet allowing people to see what is actually happening. 

a very good assessment which I agree with whole heartedly,  although I see no eivdence of  Hamas and certainly not Hizballah using human shields. Hamas could not reasonably avoid operations based near civilians given the nature of the Gaza strip and how tightly packed the populated areas are. Also it is important to distinguish between the armed wing of Hamas and the social services wing, it appears Israel is hitting both but Hamas civilian wing is a provider of aid and medicine and teaching and many social services and to hit them because they come udner the label of Hamas is not reasonable (much the same applies to Hizballah on a larer and better organised scale)

I am not suggesting there are not people within Hamas who would not use human shields or rather delibarately draw fire to a civilian target, merely that there are only a very few of those people and most instances where the IDF claims this has happened are just plain lies to cover up their own errors or deliberate killings.

Having said which I agree generally that Hamas are awful, but when a people are s*** on so much for so long it is inevitable that they will turn to an unpleasant type of leader to lead them, especially given that the pre-cursor to Hamas was created by Shin Beth/Mossad, so in effect they are as ever a created opposition, classic Hegellian dialectic type of tacitcs, creating and funding both sides.

Bit like the whole Middle east conflict over its many years.
 
 

[Biggs]

Medics 'unable to reach Gaza wounded'

From correspondents in Geneva

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24878578-5005961,00.html

January 06, 2009 09:25am


PEOPLE wounded in fighting in the Gaza Strip are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, the International Committee of the Red Cross said today.

"The situation is extremely dangerous and the co-ordination of ambulance services is very complex because of the incessant attacks and military operations," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva.

"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances.

"In some other cases, ambulances cannot reach the wounded at all because of the ongoing fighting and shelling."

Some 555 Palestinians have been killed and 2700 wounded since the start of the Israeli offensive on December 27, the head of Gaza's emergency services said.

The area's health services are under stress, with many health workers unable to reach their hospitals, and emergency rooms and intensive care units overwhelmed, according to the Red Cross.

At least two hospitals were out of fuel for their generators, the only source of power available, Ms Krimitsas said.

The organisation was also concerned about water supplies in the densely populated coastal strip.

Ms Krimitsas said two out of the 45 wells in the Gaza Strip were out of action after being hit during Israeli air raids, while the pumps on eight others were no longer working because of power cuts.

"Half a million people, that's about one third of the population of the territory, are threatened with being completely deprived of water," she said.

Ms Krimitsas said technicians needed to gain access to the electrical installations damaged during the fighting.

A team of four ICRC medical staff, including a surgeon, was allowed into the Gaza Strip from Israel overnight after three days' delay, the relief agency said.

They are due to help staff at the territory's Shifa hospital carry out complex operations on the wounded. The medical team also carried tetanus vaccines for children and blood supplies, Ms Krimitsas said.

"Hospitals had completely run out of these vaccines, which are potentially lifesaving for patients with dirty wounds or needing an operation," she said.

[241727]

Actually, Israel and Hamas are both being used. But the goal? It is purely to destabalize and allow the raping of economies and populations. Regardless of who does what, they are puppets.

Yes, at the end of the day they are all being used.

The long term plan is to use other peoples sons and daughters to fight for territory, power, and of course money.

[OldSchool]

If this truly happens, it will at least be something. Not remotely enough, but something....

What I find perplexing here is the fact thay they create a tiny opportunity for themselves to import 'humanitarian aid' for 3 hours via their own supplies, but physically deter and refuse to allow outside aid to be brought in. Next question is, "What exactly are they supplying? All those trucks are tarped, so the supplies cannot be verified". I seriously doubt they are supplying anyone but themselves. If there is no food and water in Gaza, what is sustaining the IDF while they are there? Sure they carry rations and water, but not enough for a sustained campaign. The crude diesel they imply in their 'aid' is best served as tank fuel, not generator fuel

[Biggs]

this particular slaughter hardly got a mention, 70 killed in one go

Gaza medics describe horror of strike which killed 70
Growing evidence emerged today of the bloodiest single incident of the Gaza conflict when around 70 corpses were found by a Palestinian paramedic near a bombed-out house.
 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4162193/Gaza-medics-describe-horror-of-strike-which-killed-70.html

By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
Last Updated: 5:27PM GMT 07 Jan 2009
Palestinians grieve at the funeral of a relative in the Zeitoun neighbourhood in Gaza City Photo: AP



Mohammed Shaheen, a volunteer with Palestinian Red Crescent, was in the first convoy of ambulances to reach the site of the blast in Zeitoun since it was first occupied then shelled by the Israeli army.

His testimony confirmed accounts, first reported in The Telegraph, from survivors of the extended al Samouni clan who said they feared between 60 and 70 family members had been killed.

"Inside the Samouni house I saw about ten bodies and outside another sixty,'' Mr Shaheen said.

"I was not able to count them accurately because there was not much time and we were looking for wounded people.

"We found fifteen people still alive but injured so we took them in the ambulances.

"I could see an Israeli army bulldozer knocking down houses nearby but we ran out of time and the Israeli soldiers started shooting at us.

"We had to leave about eight injured people behind because we could not get to them and it was no longer safe for us to stay.'' Mr Shaheen was in a convoy led by a jeep from the International Committee of the Red Cross that made its way down war-damaged tracks past demolished houses to the town of Zeitoun.

Concerns had been growing that Zeitoun had witnessed massive civilian casualties after surviving members of the Samouni clan reached Gaza City three days ago.

They said that after the Israeli army first took the town on Saturday night soldiers had ordered about 100 members of the clan to gather in a single house owned by Wael Samouni around dawn on Sunday.

At 6.35am on Monday the house was repeatedly shelled with appalling loss of civilian life.

A handful of survivors, some wounded, others carrying dead or dying infants, made it on foot to Gaza's main north-south road before they were given lifts to hospital. Three small children were buried in Gaza City that afternoon.

According to the survivors between 60 and 70 family members had been killed by shrapnel and falling masonry.

Convoys of ambulances twice headed to the area to look for wounded but they were driven back by Israeli shooting.

During today's three hour lull in offensive operations by Israel, the ICRC led the rescue convoy in although it took a long time for the convoy to make its way down war-damaged.

According to Mr Shaheen, the death toll was as high as described by the survivors.

[lovealexjones]

Gaza aid corridor"?!?!?!?!  BULLBISCUITS

that IS like giving a bandaid to the mother of a child that has been just cut in half.


STOP FRICKING BOMBING!

STOP USING WHITE PHOSPHOROUS AND DU!

STOP STARVING PEOPLE AND ALLOWING THE NWO TO RUN EUGENICS PROGRAMS IN OCCUPIED LANDS!



BUMP

[Devotional Soul]

This link has a video showing Israeli police looking at a dent in a wall from a rocket.  No footage of aid to Gaza citizens.   

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7815266.stm

Israel briefly halts Gaza attacks

Aid agencies have been warning of a severe humanitarian crisis

Israel has halted military operations in Gaza for three hours in the first of what it says will be a daily ceasefire.

An Israeli spokesman said it would allow Gazans to "get medical attention, get supplies... whatever they need".   

Correspondents say it is unclear if the suspension covers all of Gaza. Fighting resumed shortly after 1400GMT, eyewitnesses said.   
(note to Israeli spokesman: that was not what they needed)

Israel's move came as pressure built on it and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to accept a ceasefire deal.

The plan, backed by the UN and the US and proposed by Egypt and France, calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Israel's security cabinet is meeting to consider the deal, but ministers are also expected to discuss expanding operations in Gaza.

In a statement released on Wednesday, France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said he welcomed what he described as "the acceptance by Israel and the Palestinian Authority" of the French-Egyptian ceasefire plan.

The statement did not mention Hamas. A senior Hamas official told the BBC that there were "positive signs but no agreement yet".

Israel said it "welcomes" the initiative but that talks were continuing on the details of the proposal.

An official told the BBC: "We are still having a dialogue. We have agreement on the principles. The challenge now is to get the details to match the principles."

Israel was not sure how long the diplomatic process would take and would need a working arms embargo on Hamas, the official said.

Israel's military said the three-hour pause in operations to create "humanitarian corridors" for supplies and fuel would happen every day.
   
A Hamas spokesman told Al Arabiya television that the group would not launch any missiles at Israeli targets during the lull.

Israel has been criticised by aid agencies who have warned of a mounting humanitarian crisis for the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, who are unable to escape from the conflict because of Israel's blockade.

However Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the UN relief agency Unwra, said the move did not go far enough.

"When you are trying to feed 750,000 people a day in Gaza as we are, you need a permanent ceasefire. You can't do that in a three-hour window," he said.

The World Bank also warned on Wednesday of a looming public health crisis in Gaza because of damage to its sewage system and a shortage of clean drinking water.

It urged Israel to allow the entry of parts, fuel and staff to the sewage complex in order to prevent the system breaching its walls and drowning up to 10,000 people. 

Israel's decision to facilitate "humanitarian corridors" follows one of the deadliest days since the offensive began last month, with more than 130 people killed on Tuesday.

Overnight, Israeli forces launched 40 fresh air strikes in Gaza, while Israeli media reports say nine rockets were fired into southern Israel from Gaza early on Wednesday.

Little official detail has been given about the French-Egyptian ceasefire proposal, but diplomats say it centres around measures to halt weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, coupled with moves to ease the blockade.

[Truth researcher]

How can demons become angels...

[David Rothscum]

Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child
http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=26371
Radio exchange contradicts army version of Gaza killing
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem

An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.

The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.

A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.

The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.

But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.

Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death".

The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.

At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying his magazine into her body.

The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.

The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."

Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"

Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."

A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.

The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."

The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.

Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."

Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.

On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."

The army's original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.

The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.

A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".

However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.

Iman's parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.


Record of a shooting

Watchtower
'It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward'
Operations room
'Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?'
Watchtower
'A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death'
Captain R (after killing the girl)
'Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed'

[David Rothscum]

UN: Israel kills driver on aid mission to Gaza
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
GAZA CITY
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231167317936&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
A UN official in the Gaza Strip claimed Israeli forces on Thursday fired on a truck on a UN aid mission in northern Gaza, killing the driver.

UN spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna said the incident took place during a lull declared by Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory.

He said the UN coordinated the delivery with Israel, and the vehicle and was marked with a UN flag and insignia when it was shot.

The IDF said it was investigating the incident.

[ellas95]

http://tales-of-iraq-war.blogspot.com/

[sociostudent]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7818577.stm
The UN has said it is suspending aid operations in Gaza because its staff have been hit by Israeli attacks.

The suspension would continue "until the Israeli authorities can guarantee our safety and security", the UN said.

The international Red Cross has also accused Israel of failing to fulfil its duty to help wounded civilians in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the US, UK and France have dropped opposition to a UN resolution urging an immediate ceasefire, and Arab nations are studying a draft.

The US, UK and France had wanted a weaker statement, the BBC's Laura Trevelyan in New York says.

But Arab foreign ministers said anything less than a binding resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire would be an inadequate response to the crisis, our correspondent says.

If the Arab nations' response to the draft resolution is positive, a vote could happen later.

The draft calls for an immediate ceasefire, action to stop the smuggling of arms by Hamas across the Egypt-Gaza border and the opening of border crossings into Gaza so aid can be delivered.

'Great regret'

The UN's suspension of aid efforts came shortly after it said one person had been killed and two hurt when a fork-lift truck on a UN aid mission came under Israeli tank fire at Gaza's Erez crossing.
The UN's relief agency Unwra said it was "with great regret" that it had been forced to make a difficult decision.

"We have suspended our operations in Gaza until the Israeli authorities can guarantee our safety and security," said Unwra spokesman Chris Gunness.

"Our installations have been hit, our workers have been killed in spite of the fact that the Israeli authorities have the co-ordinates of our facilities and that all our movements are co-ordinated with the Israeli army."

The UN said the movements of the truck hit at the Erez crossing had been co-ordinated with Israel.

The Israeli army has not commented on that claim but has said it is looking into the matter.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said its staff had found four weak and scared children beside their mothers' bodies in houses hit by shelling in Zeitoun.

The Israeli military has not yet responded to the accusation, but said it worked closely with aid groups so that civilians could get assistance.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International accused both Israel and Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

Air strikes

The aid agencies' concerns come amid fears the conflict with Gaza militants may spread, with at least three rockets fired from Lebanon into northern Israel, prompting Israel to reply with artillery.
The incident followed the heaviest bombardment so far of Gaza in nearly two weeks of conflict, with 60 air strikes which Israel says targeted Hamas facilities.

Palestinian medical officials said at least 10 Gaza residents had been killed on Thursday.

More than 700 Palestinian and 11 Israeli lives are said to have been lost since the offensive began 13 days ago.

For a second day, Israel suspended its operation for three hours to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Efforts have continued to broker a full ceasefire - a senior Israeli official is in Cairo to hear details of a plan put forward by Egypt and France.

A Hamas delegation is expected in the Egyptian capital at some stage for parallel "technical" talks, Egyptian diplomats said.
At least three Katyusha rockets were fired from southern Lebanon into the northern Israeli area of Nahariya early on Thursday.

One hit a nursing home, injuring at least two people.

Israel immediately responded with five artillery shells into Lebanon, calling it a "pinpoint response at the source of fire".

The rocket fire was condemned by Lebanon's prime minister.

The rocket attacks from Lebanon have raised concerns about a wider war in the region, says the BBC's Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen.

Casualty claims in Gaza have been difficult to verify independently.

While the BBC's Palestinian producers have been reporting from Gaza, Israel allowed Western TV crews to enter only on Wednesday, embedded with its army.

[Muck-raker]

Perez now on tv....we are looking at Egyptian solution to peace....BUT.....we must stop all tunnels which bring in weapons from Iran (We do not like it when they shoot back at us). Perez should be reminded that most of Israels weapons come from the USA. These weapons are found to be illegal worldwide (white phosporus and cluster bombs made by Ratheon, USA). and a final note here is that Israel used cluster bombs on Lebanese civilians for 24 hours straight  AFTER peace accord was signed.
also I know that many shipments of these illegal weapons were shipped by US planes and when they stopped in Ireland,Germany, Italy they were refused fuel and told to move on....thank you..it is nice to know who the compassionate countries are.

[spangler]

Reuters is carrying the same story.

There's no question now that Israel is deliberately targeting humanitarian agencies and workers.

[sociostudent]

they're just gonna keep pushing, aren't they. This is a shout-out to the rest of the world by the Israelis, and here's what it says:
"WE'RE GONNA KEEP DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, AND IF YOU STAND IN OUR WAY, WE'RE GONNA KILL YA! IF YOU'RE A POLITICIAN AND YOU TRY STOPPING US, WE'LL DESTROY YOUR POLITICAL CAREER! HA HA HA HA HA!"

[spangler]

they're just gonna keep pushing, aren't they. This is a shout-out to the rest of the world by the Israelis, and here's what it says:
"WE'RE GONNA KEEP DOING WHAT WE'RE DOING, AND IF YOU STAND IN OUR WAY, WE'RE GONNA KILL YA! IF YOU'RE A POLITICIAN AND YOU TRY STOPPING US, WE'LL DESTROY YOUR POLITICAL CAREER! HA HA HA HA HA!"

No doubt. War crimes tribunals are in order

And I'd like to know what meaning we're supposed to derive from the holocaust when the Jewish state, supported by most of its citizens, is perpetrating the very crimes committed by the murderers and torturers of their ancestors?

[OldSchool]

They are playing the 'tunnels=weapons' card way too much. They continually fail to admit that the tunnels were also a main supply line for food, water, fuel, medicine, machine parts, and more, since Israel blocked off the borders and choked out mainstream supply. That's why Israel wants them destroyed. It's hard to destroy a self replenishing entity.

[David Rothscum]

Mission accomplished. They couldn't keep saying no to humanitarian aid, so decided to let them in and "accidentally" shoot at them to scare them away again.