Saturday, January 3, 2009

Our Kin In Gaza are Suffering

While the United Nations and other aid organizations say otherwise, an Israeli Defense Dept Spokesperson claimed today that Gaza is not experiencing a humanitarian crisis and has everything it needs. From Reuters:



Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross reports that its four-person medical team, including a surgeon with experience with war wounds has been denied access to Gaza for the second straight day. And ICRC in Gaza say they're fielding calls from Gazans who received leaflets from the IDF telling them to leave their homes:
"This is creating anxiety and confusion," said Antoine Grand, head of the ICRC office in Gaza. “People are asking where they are supposed to go – and for how long. They call the ICRC for advice, but we have no answers."

GorillasGuides has posted the following video of the carnage after a market is bombed in Gaza. WARNING: contains graphic images of dead, dying and injured civilians, including children. I'd call this a humanitarian crisis.
UPDATE: apparently the GorillasGuides video I linked to in the body of this post is doctored, and is not a chronicle of current events in Gaza. I believe what value that can be derived from its viewing is best stated by Siun–it still gives us a picture of human suffering, and enlarges (I hope) our empathy for those caught in war.
UPDATE: Reuters is reporting that the US has blocked a demand for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in tonight's emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Libya--the only Arab member of the UNSC--had proposed the ceasefire, but the US "insists that any statement or resolution state that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is a terrorist organization that seized power in Gaza from the legitimate Palestinian Authority." Council statements must pass unanimously; the US demand leaves the council in a deadlock. Diplomats now say an "informal statement" that summarizes what has been agreed upon is likely, but won't include a call for a ceasefire or troop withdrawal.

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