NPR News -

Israel's blockade has meant that since last month the Gaza Strip has been closed to virtually all supplies, and Palestinians inside the territory have had to deal with food shortages, lengthy power cuts and no cooking gas.

The situation has led the UN to describe conditions there as the "worst ever".


"The territory's fragile medical system was already facing key shortages of equipment, spare parts, specialists and some medicine due to the international sanctions against Hamas-ruled Gaza. The problem has only gotten worse during the war.

For several days now, hospitals across Gaza have been running entirely on backup generators. The United Nations says there is only enough fuel left for three or four days. John Prideaux-Brune, with the aid group Oxfam UK, says hospitals across Gaza are now rationing electricity.

"They are keeping wards in the dark, keeping wards unheated to try and eke out the meager supplies of fuel they have so that they can maintain the operating theaters and the life-support machines," he says."



2,000 civilians have been injured on top of the number killed.

It's very hard to ignore 60 plus years of media coverage.Nor is it hard to ignore 60 plus years of Middle eastern leaders calling for the destruction of Israel.

Are you smoking crack or what???Israel is hardly a country that randomly attacks countries for the only reason to terrorize and conquer.Israel has only attacked when it is getting tired of the daily rocket attacks(which is well over 6,000 in the last 5 years).How many suicide bombers assaults have we read about attacking Israel?Are you saying to me that Israel should do nothing when it is attacked every day?

Your wrong and wrong again.Israel has allowed humanitarian aid in the region.


http://paperdragon.newsvine.com/_news/2008/12/26/2249018-israel-allows-aid-into-gaza?commentId=4561925

(JTA) -- Israel has reopened its border with Gaza to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid.

December,26th 2008

The Israeli military said about 90 trucks full of medicine and other items had entered Gaza on Friday morning. According to The Associated Press, the shipment included a large donation of goods from the wife of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, as well as more than 150,000 gallons of fuel and 200 tons of natural gas.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=79920&sectionid=351020202

Jan,5th 2009

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4127004/Small-aid-delivery-does-little-to-stop-suffering.html

Small aid delivery does little to stop suffering
Israel allowed limited shipments of aid into Gaza today as humanitarian organisations spoke of the rapidly worsening conditions.

Get your facts straight!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/4127074/Hamas-fighters-now-a-well-organised-force.html

Hardly a rag tag Army.

Hamas fighters now a well-organised force
Hamas has up to 20,000 men divided between its armed wing, known as the Izzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, and paramilitary police, commonly known as Executive Force.Unlike al-Qaeda and its acolytes that work on an ideology of holy war or jihad, the Islam-fuelled militancy of Hamas is more focused on recovering land lost to Israel.
Foot soldiers show little fear of death and the group's ideology conveys great respect on what it calls 'shaheed' or martyrs, who die for the cause.
There are a smattering of women in the police force but the rest of the police and all members of the armed wing are men.They each carry a Kalashnikov assault rifle and have access to a modest stock of weapons including 4,000 rocket propelled grenades, hundreds of heavy machine guns and stock of about 120 tons of high explosive. They have a range of mortars and about 15 BRDM-2 armoured personnel carriers.
But perhaps their most potent weapon is their stock of rockets with which they attack Israel. As well as Qassams – rockets made mostly in workshops in Gaza – they have longer range Katyusha and Grad rockets.

Winx if the people really cared about living or dying they would be looking at the root cause of why they are getting bombed to begin with.I know if I lived there and didn't support Hamas,I would gather weapons,find out where their leader was,put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.Not a single soul has asked Hamas to surrender.They are no different then the Nazi movement.Death or victory.

Whey are you defending terrorists?

Does Israel not have the right to defend itself?

I'm defending the civilians not Hamas.

What about Israels civilians?Why are you not defending them?Are they not the better of the two?

There's got to be a better way - not attacking civilian areas.

it is terrible that the civilians are being used by hamas as human shields it is a war crime perpetrated by hamas on the civilian gazan population.

stop the rocket fire against israel immediately, disarm hamas, and with a peaceful administration of gaza many innocent lives will be saved on both sides.

It's a war they brought upon themselves.I say let anyone out who wants out of Gaza.Anyone else who wants to stay and support Hamas can go up in one big ball of flame.They can die as martyrs.The world will be one step closer to world peace.

It's wrong to wipe out a whole population. I feel that they can't leave. The road is blocked.

I know that I would be afraid to leave to take my child and leave the house and walk down the street with bombs going off around me.

UN News Centre logo and link back to News Centre home

Ambulances face growing difficulty in reaching Gaza wounded, UN warns
[Maxwell Gaylard]

Maxwell Gaylard
5 January 2009 – Ambulances and medical workers in Gaza are facing increasing difficulty in reaching the wounded, some are being killed in doing so, and a “humanitarian breathing space” is vital to ensure that food and medical supplies reach those in need as Israel’s offensive entered its 10th day, the top United Nations relief official in the area said today.

“Large numbers of people including many children are hungry, they are cold, they are without ready access to medical facilities, they are without access to electricity and running water, above all they are terrified. That by any measure is a humanitarian crisis,” UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory Maxwell Gaylard told a news briefing in Jerusalem.

“There is an overall atmosphere of fear. More than half of the population are children. The spectre of internal displacement is emerging with growing numbers seeking shelter and already there are several thousand civilians in UNRWA’s seven shelters,” he said, referring to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.


http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29465&Cr=gaza&Cr1=

..........................


Rights expert says collective punishment of Gazans violate International Humanitarian Law.

http://downloads.unmultimedia.org/radio/en/real/2008/081209-gaza.rm


...........................


General Assembly
GA/PAL/1109
Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

Statement by bureau of committee on Palestinian rights on situation in gaza strip

The Bureau of the Committee wishes to emphasize that the Fourth Geneva Convention obligates an occupying Power to protect the civilian population under its occupation, including through the provision of basic services, such as food and medicines. The Bureau of the Committee has consistently condemned Palestinian rocket firing into Israel, but nothing can justify the illegal collective punishment by Israel of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. The Bureau strongly believes that actions by a few do not justify the collective punishment by Israel of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. The Bureau would like to remind the Government of Israel that the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been repeatedly affirmed by the Conference of the High Contracting Parties of the Convention, as well as by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. The Gaza Strip remains an Occupied Territory by virtue of the fact that Israel fully controls every single aspect of the daily life of the Palestinian population. The international community must urgently act against the violation of the Convention by Israel. In particular, we call on the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention to take urgent and decisive action to uphold their obligation, under article 1, to “respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances”.

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gapal1109.doc.htm



That last bit in red means that the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention can take what means are deemed necessary to provide for the protection of the occupied people.

Memory serves me the United States is also a signatory of those Conventions

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
Adopted on 12 August 1949 by the Diplomatic Conference for the Establishment of
International Conventions for the Protection of Victims of War, held in Geneva
from 21 April to 12 August, 1949
entry into force 21 October 1950

Article 1

The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

I said if Israel would allow them to leave.They also had many,many,times to leave before the war.They were warned several times.I don't feel sorry for them.

Then your heartless to me.

How does one leave their home and job and walk out into that region with the clothes on their back with their children.

Hmm. Israel refusing civilians to leave a zone of conflict places them in direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Not caring for the civilians in an occupied territory falls under same.

Gaza despite Israel removing its military presence and removing its own citizens from the area still controlled all access to area, still controlled all aspects of daily life in the area rendering the area in fact an occupied zone.

the last vestige of occupation of gaza by israel ended in 2005.
Hamas bears responsibility for its attacks against israel and against the interests of the palestinians they purport to represent.

Incorrect. Re-read what I posted. Despite the last military presence and civilian presence being pulled out Israel still controlled all access and the daily aspects of life ie food, water etc. This in effect rendered Gaza into one large guarded area....ie occupied.




Statement by bureau of committee on Palestinian rights on situation in gaza strip

The Bureau of the Committee wishes to emphasize that the Fourth Geneva Convention obligates an occupying Power to protect the civilian population under its occupation, including through the provision of basic services, such as food and medicines. The Bureau of the Committee has consistently condemned Palestinian rocket firing into Israel, but nothing can justify the illegal collective punishment by Israel of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. The Bureau strongly believes that actions by a few do not justify the collective punishment by Israel of the entire population of the Gaza Strip. The Bureau would like to remind the Government of Israel that the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the Occupied Palestinian Territory has been repeatedly affirmed by the Conference of the High Contracting Parties of the Convention, as well as by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. The Gaza Strip remains an Occupied Territory by virtue of the fact that Israel fully controls every single aspect of the daily life of the Palestinian population. The international community must urgently act against the violation of the Convention by Israel. In particular, we call on the High Contracting Parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention to take urgent and decisive action to uphold their obligation, under article 1, to “respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances”.

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/gapal1109.doc.htm

just another false anti-israeli assertion by the islamic-state dominated UN propagandists who brought you the anti-semitic durban racism conference. israel has not controlled daily life in gaza for many years. had Hamas
wished to use that time to improve life there they could
have but instead they smuggled arms and fired rockets
at civilians.

for the UN, having one-sided anti-israel resolutions is routine
nonsense carrying no weight of fairness, making a mockery
of the institution unfortunately.

The September 1993 Israel-PLO Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements provided for a transitional period of Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Under a series of agreements signed between May 1994 and September 1999, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority (PA) security and civilian responsibility for Palestinian-populated areas of the West Bank and Gaza. Negotiations to determine the permanent status of the West Bank and Gaza stalled following the outbreak of an intifada in September 2000, as Israeli forces reoccupied most Palestinian-controlled areas. In April 2003, the Quartet (US, EU, UN, and Russia) presented a roadmap to a final settlement of the conflict by 2005 based on reciprocal steps by the two parties leading to two states, Israel and a democratic Palestine. The proposed date for a permanent status agreement was postponed indefinitely due to violence and accusations that both sides had not followed through on their commitments. Following Palestinian leader Yasir ARAFAT's death in late 2004, Mahmud ABBAS was elected PA president in January 2005. A month later, Israel and the PA agreed to the Sharm el-Sheikh Commitments in an effort to move the peace process forward. In September 2005, Israel unilaterally withdrew all its settlers and soldiers and dismantled its military facilities in the Gaza Strip and withdrew settlers and redeployed soldiers from four small northern West Bank settlements. Nonetheless, Israel controls maritime, airspace, and most access to the Gaza Strip. A November 2005 PA-Israeli agreement authorized the reopening of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt under joint PA and Egyptian control. In January 2006, the Islamic Resistance Movement, HAMAS, won control of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC). The international community refused to accept the HAMAS-led government because it did not recognize Israel, would not renounce violence, and refused to honor previous peace agreements between Israel and the PA. HAMAS took control of the PA government in March 2006, but President ABBAS had little success negotiating with HAMAS to present a political platform acceptable to the international community so as to lift economic sanctions on Palestinians. The PLC was unable to convene throughout most of 2006 as a result of Israel's detention of many HAMAS PLC members and Israeli-imposed travel restrictions on other PLC members. Violent clashes took place between Fatah and HAMAS supporters in the Gaza Strip in 2006 and early 2007, resulting in numerous Palestinian deaths and injuries. ABBAS and HAMAS Political Bureau Chief MISHAL in February 2007 signed the Mecca Agreement in Saudi Arabia that resulted in the formation of a Palestinian National Unity Government (NUG) headed by HAMAS member Ismail HANIYA. However, fighting continued in the Gaza Strip, and in June, HAMAS militants succeeded in a violent takeover of all military and governmental institutions in the Gaza Strip. ABBAS dismissed the NUG and through a series of Presidential decrees formed a PA government in the West Bank led by independent Salam FAYYAD. HAMAS rejected the NUG's dismissal and has called for resuming talks with Fatah, but ABBAS has ruled out negotiations until HAMAS agrees to a return of PA control over the Gaza Strip and recognizes the FAYYAD-led government. FAYYAD and his PA government initiated a series of security and economic reforms to improve conditions in the West Bank. ABBAS participated in talks with Israel's Prime Minister OLMERT and secured the release of some Palestinian prisoners and previously withheld customs revenue. During a November 2007 international meeting in Annapolis Maryland, ABBAS and OLMERT agreed to resume peace negotiations with the goal of reaching a final peace settlement by the end of 2008.


https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gz.html



This report says same. Not from UN this time but from an agency of the Pro-Israel US government. Israel still controlled.

israel tries to prevent arms smuggling. this is NOT the same as "controlling all aspects of daily life". such ridiculous and overbroad obviously false assertions along with the complete neglect of civilian attacks against the israelis is exactly why the UN discredits themselves on these issues.

unfortunately the UN has frequently been abused as a politcal tool against the israelis by those members who have such a bias politically contrary to the mission of the institution.