JERUSALEM, 28 January (IRIN) - The Israeli-imposed restrictions on imports to the Gaza Strip are threatening the lives of vulnerable patients, the Oxfam aid agency has said. “Oxfam International is gravely concerned about the life and safety of the civilian population residing in the Gaza Strip,” Oxfam’s director said in a statement on 25 January. “In Shifa hospital in Gaza city, 135 cancer patients are currently unable to receive treatment due to the lack of basic medications,” Oxfam said. Read more about Medical supplies in Gaza running low
GAZACITY, 28 January (IPS) - A stream of dark and putrid sludge snakes through Gaza’s streets. It is a noxious mix of human and animal waste. The stench is overwhelming. The occasional passer-by vomits. Over recent days this has been a more common sight than the sale of food on the streets of Gaza, choked by a relentless Israeli siege. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, almost all of its able male adults among a population of 1.5 million, crossed over into Egypt last week to buy essential provisions — and a new lease of life. That has staved off starvation. But streets continue as sewers. Read more about Closure turns Gaza's streets into sewers
A top European Union official has offered full backing for Israel as it continues its illegal blockade of fuel, food, medicine and other vital supplies to the occupied Gaza Strip that has led to a growing humanitarian crisis. At a conference in the Israeli town of Herzliya on 22 January, Franco Frattini, the vice president of the European Commission, stated that “the steps leading up to the Gaza blackout cannot be construed as a war crime,” according to a report on Ynetnews.com, Read more about Top EU official backs Israel's crimes in occupied Gaza
Soldiers assaulted and arrested Issa ‘Amro, a B’Tselem fieldworker, in Hebron yesterday. ‘Amro was arrested while filming a disturbance by settlers in the Wadi Hsein neighborhood in East Hebron. Yesterday evening (19 January), a group of settlers began throwing stones at a Palestinian home and trying to forcefully enter it. Although a large force of soldiers and police were present, they did nothing to protect the Palestinians and remove the settlers. Read more about Soldiers assault and arrest B'Tselem worker in Hebron
GAZACITY, 21 January (IPS) - Seventy-six-year-old Mustapha al-Jamal goes door to door, looking for help in finding medicines for his son. At home, the 53-year-old son Yahya al-Jamal lies back, staring at the ceiling. By his side, an oxygen cylinder keeps him going for now. “My son’s condition continues to worsen,” Mustapha says. “We’ve been waiting two months for the medicines.” Last year Mustapaha’s 44-year-old daughter, a mother of six, died of breast cancer. She had been recovering, but the Israeli siege blocked supply of medicines, and no one could then save her. Read more about No rights, little mercy
At approximately 8:00pm on Sunday, 20 January, the Gaza Strip power plant ran out of fuel and shut down, plunging the Gaza Strip into darkness. The closure of the Gaza power plant, in addition to Israel’s continued, tightened siege on the Gaza Strip, will have a catastrophic effect on the 1.5 million residents of Gaza, who are already suffering chronic shortages of fuel, medicine and some basic food stuffs. The director of Gaza’s main hospital, al-Shifa, describes the current situation as “potentially disastrous.” Read more about Rights org: Gaza situation potentially disastrous
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have intensified their war crimes in the Gaza Strip with total disregard for civilian lives. During the last three days, nine Palestinians, including four civilians, have been killed by the IOF. Three of the civilian victims were women. In addition, 57 other people were inured, the majority of whom were also civilians. On 18 January shrapnel from a bomb fired from an Israeli fighter jet onto a governmental building hit a nearby wedding celebration, killing one woman and injuring dozens of others. Read more about Israel kills nine Gazans, injures 57 in three days
JERUSALEM/GAZA, 17 January (IRIN) - The Israeli government decided earlier this month to permit the Gaza Strip to import industrial diesel — in similar quantities to those permitted prior to the fuel import restrictions imposed in October 2007 — but the impoverished enclave continues to suffer from power cuts. The cuts are affecting daily life, particularly now as the region has been experiencing an uncommonly cold winter. Read more about Gaza power cuts leave people cold physically, metaphorically
On Wednesday at noon, 16 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched an air strike against a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. Three Palestinian civilians (a man, his son and his brother) were killed in the strike. According to preliminary investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, at approximately 12:30pm on Wednesday, an IOF aircraft fired a missile at a civilian vehicle, in which three members of the al-Yazji family, including a child, were traveling, in al-Nafaq Street in the al-Daraj neighborhood of east Gaza City. Read more about Israeli forces kill Gaza civilians in botched execution attempt
On Tuesday morning, 15 January 2008, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed 17 Palestinians, including five civilians, and wounded at least 30 others, five of whom are in a serious condition, during an incursion into the al-Shojaeya and al-Zaytoun neighborhoods of east Gaza City. The incursion continued until noon. Preliminary investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights indicate that most of the victims were killed by tank shells, and that IOF troops used excessive lethal force without regard for the lives of Palestinian civilians living in the affected areas. Read more about Israeli forces kill 17 Gazans in less than four hours
