Gaza under fire despite truce call

al Jazeera
Friday, January 09, 2009

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200919819627784.html

Israel is pushing ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.

A series of Israeli air raids and ground attacks on Friday killed at least 12 Palestinians in and around Gaza City, medical sources said.

Palestinian doctors said tanks shelled a house in Beit Lahiya in the north of the Strip, killing six Gazans from the same family.

The Israeli air force launched attacks overnight against what an army spokesman described as 50 targets, including launching pads for rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.

The Israeli army said six rockets were also fired into southern Israel on Friday morning, injuring one person.

The Israeli army said four rockets hit Beersheba, a town that lies about 40km from the Israeli-Gaza border, and the port of Ashdod.

Civilian casualties

At least 778 Palestinians have been killed and 3,250 injured since the Israeli offensive began on December 27. More than 200 Palestinian children are among the dead.

Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, have been killed during the same period.

In addition, the UN said on Friday that 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Jan 4 after the Israeli army moved dozens of civilians to a building which troops later shelled.

A special report by the UN's Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 110 Gazans were transferred to the house and that the Israeli army were investigated the incident.

The continuing hostilities will come as a disappointment for those within the international community who have been pushing for a ceasefire since the conflict began.

Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza, said despite all the talk of peace at the United Nations in New York, there was "certainly no peace here in the Gaza Strip".

She said explosions and heavy artillery fire could be continuously heard overnight and into Friday.

The UN resolution, which was backed by 14 of the 15-member body with only the US abstaining, calls for an "immediate, durable and fully respected" ceasefire.

It also said border crossings into Gaza should be re-opened and measures put in place to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip Strip.

The resolution underlined there should be "unimpeded provision" and distribution of aid into the territory, where Gazans have been starved of fuel, food and medical supplies for months following Israel’s crippling blockade.

UN aid suspension

Meanwhile, the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (Unwra) has been forced to suspend humanitarian activities in the Strip after coming under fire from Israeli forces.

On Thursday, a contract worker was killed when a Unwra aid convoy came under Israeli fire during a three-hour armistice agreed by the Israelis in order to deliver essential supplies to Gaza residents.

Israel says it is investigating the incident.

The UN says it cannot resume aid work in the territory because it is unable to guarantee the safety of its employees – despite the daily three-hour pause in the Israeli offensive.

The Israeli security cabinet is debating the UN resolution, with a vote on whether to push ahead with its Gaza offensive or declare an immediate ceasefire expected later on Friday.