Three-hour Gaza truce 'will have no effect'
Three-hour lull in fighting in Gaza Strip will not make "blind bit of difference" to humanitarian situation
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Thursday, 08, Jan 2009 07:58
By Matthew Champion
Today's three-hour lull in fighting in the Gaza Strip will not make a "blind bit of difference" to the situation on the ground, aid agencies have warned on the 13th day of Israeli military action.
Yesterday the Israeli army said it would cease strikes and ground operations between 13:00 and 16:00 local time (11:00 GMT to 14:00 GMT) from now on while its military action against Hamas continued.
A source told inthenews.co.uk that the humanitarian window was an "ironic turn of phrase" and dismissed its importance.
"Some medical teams will be able to operate more freely than they have been able to, but most are still coming under fire," the aid worker told inthenews.co.uk.
"The window gives teams the chance to operate and get to about five people, but 500 more will be injured in the following fighting and it won't make a blind bit of difference."
Amid reports that Israel and the Palestinian Authority have reacted favourably in principle to the terms of a Franco-Egyptian peace plan, aid workers have told inthenews.co.uk of an urgent need for a permanent truce.
"The three-hour ceasefire is simply not enough," said Janet Symes, Christian Aid's head of Middle East region.
"There must be an immediate permanent cessation of violence and unfettered humanitarian access in order to help provide essential services and make a real difference for Gazans. The Quartet must act to put pressure on the Israeli government to cease its military offensive and facilitate a UN security council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian access."
Miri Weingarten of Tel Aviv-based Physicians for Human Rights said the three-hour window had not allowed for the distribution or evacuation of victims.
Ms Weingarten explained that ambulance drivers were still being shot at by Apache helicopters every time they tried to reach casualties.
She told inthenews.co.uk of one example where a Red Cross driver sent to distribute medical supplies had been shot at by a tank. He then backed up 100m but was shot again.
"They've been shot at consistently," she continued. "The Israeli army has no respect for medical symbols."
Speaking from Gaza, Ahmed Sourani, director of the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC), said three hours was clearly not enough time to reach victims of the Israeli military action.
"Because not all the injured can be reached, particularly those in remote areas, they can't be reached by ambulances and doctors, it is a terrifying issue; it is a humanitarian and critical issue," he said.
"These are lives of people and children. Even the relatives of people injured and trapped cannot get to them."
To donate to Christian Aid's emergency appeal for Gaza please go to www.christianaid.org.uk/gaza