UN to resume Gaza aid
2009-01-10 08:01
New York - The United Nations will resume aid distribution for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip after receiving security assurances from Israel, the world body said in a statement late on Friday.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) said in a joint statement that the United Nations had received "credible assurances that the security of UN personnel, installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected."
"On this basis, UN staff movements suspended yesterday will resume as soon as possible," the two organisations said.
The UNRWA suspended operations in the enclave on Thursday after a UN convoy was hit by two Israeli tank shells.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also restricted its Gaza operations after one of its vehicles was hit, apparently by Israeli fire.
Meanwhile Israeli jets and ground troops hammered at Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip and Islamic militants fired barrages of rockets at southern Israeli cities, ignoring a UN resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire after two weeks of combat.
In the early hours of Saturday morning Gaza residents said warplanes attacked a disused Hamas security compound in the southern town of Khan Younis, a market in Beit Lahiya, near the strip's northern border with Israel and several buildings in and around Gaza City. Flames and smoke could be seen rising into the sky but none of the sites were in use at the time and there were no reports of casualties.
By dawn, ground troops were reported seen in Gaza City's outlying neighbourhoods, a little over 2 kilometres from the seafront Shati refugee camp, but still not entering built-up areas.
UN call 'not practical'
The Israeli prime minister's office said on Friday that the UN call was not practical, and senior cabinet ministers decided to press on with the offensive. Israel will stop only when it succeeds in ending rocket fire from the Hamas-ruled territory, the government said.
Hopes that Thursday night's UN Security Council resolution would end Gaza's worst fighting in decades were further tempered by dismissive remarks from Hamas, angry that it was not consulted during exhaustive diplomatic efforts at the world body.
By Friday evening, more than 20 Palestinians had been reported killed during the day, pushing the death toll for the two-week conflict to around 780, according to Gaza health officials who said at least half of those killed were civilians.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed - four of them by militant rockets, the rest in battle in Gaza. - AFP/AP