"Terrifying picture" emerging in Gaza
Ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza Strip enabling "terrifying picture" to unfold, aid organisations warn
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Tuesday, 06, Jan 2009 07:15
Ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza Strip is enabling a "terrifying picture" to unfold, aid organisations have told inthenews.co.uk.
More than 500 people have been killed in 11 days of air-strikes and ground operations targeting Hamas in response to rockets fired into Israeli territory.
But relief agencies have warned of the humanitarian crisis developing in Gaza - one of the most densely-populated regions of the world - a 41km by 6km strip of land with a population of almost 1.5 million.
The region was already suffering from an 18-month blockade that severely restricts the amount of aid entering the area.
Save the Children told inthenews.co.uk a desperate situation was being worsened still by the ongoing military action, which has effectively divided Gaza in two after ground troops entered.
Dominic Nutt, speaking from Save the Children's Jerusalem office, said "very little if any" food aid was getting through to Gazans.
He explained that the food could not be safely distributed as relief workers risked being hit by missiles.
Fred Abraham, senior emergency researcher at Human Rights Watch, told inthenews.co.uk that the Israeli government was being urgently petitioned to allow foreign aid workers back into Gaza.
"Foreign media and human rights monitors are not allowed in, and that began in November," he said from Jerusalem.
"There are very strict restrictions on humanitarian workers and journalists, so unfortunately what I am hearing is by telephone.
"We are calling for immediate access so we can report more accurately."
Mr Abraham agreed with Mr Nutt's assessment that supplies were not being distributed.
"The key issue is the creation of a humanitarian breathing space coordinated with Israeli forces," he told inthenews.co.uk. "We are screaming for this right now, but both sides have to agree."
Talks are currently taking place between European Union foreign policy chiefs and Egyptian mediators in a bid to end the fighting between Israeli and Hamas.
World leaders have called for an immediate ceasefire but the US has so far blocked any joint statement or resolution from the United Nations security council.