Israel kills four Palestinians, Gaza humanitarian crisis

Israeli air strikes killed four Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip.

Hamas said that Israel is violating the ceasefire. Aid agencies say Gaza faces a humanitarian crisis if Israel's blockade continues.

A spokesman for a small Palestinian group known as the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) said that they will fire mortars into Israel in return for air raids on Gaza Strip.

Hamas and Israel are trading accusations and Israel escalated blockade on Gaza Strip. At least 16 Gaza Palestinians have been killed in Israeli incursions into Gaza Strip in the past week.

The Israeli Ministry Of Foreign Affairs said Some 20 Kassam and Iranian-produced Grad rockets were fired at the western Negev and Ashkelon over the weekend. 12 rockets were fired at Israel today, adding that one Sderot resident suffered light shrapnel wounds and several were treated for shock. The ministry added that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said "The responsibility for breaking the calm and creating a situation of recurrent continuing violence in the south lays entirely with Hamas and the other terrorist organizations active in the Gaza Strip." It also added that Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said "Hamas is taking advantage of the situation in Gaza to try and garner international support. The international community must make it clear that this is unacceptable."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had expressed concern over the extent of humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip and urged Israel to stop air raids and lift the blockade. UN Relief Works Agency has shut down its operations "because Israeli blockades has made it unable to bring food and fuel supplies into Gaza."

The humanitarian situation in Gaza Strip is deteriorating, UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness said. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel "to allow urgently, the steady and sufficient supply of fuel and humanitarian assistance," according to a statement from the UN chief's spokesman.

"Ban also calls on Israel to resume facilitating the activities of UNRWA and all humanitarian agencies, including through unimpeded access for UN officials and humanitarian workers," the statement said.

The UN Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expressed today its utmost alarm about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Bureau unreservedly condemned Israel's decision to seal the borders between the Gaza Strip and Israel, preventing the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance, including food, medical supplies and fuel. The Bureau called on the Israeli Government to immediately lift the siege on the Gaza Strip and allow humanitarian assistance to enter the Strip in order to help alleviate the plight of Gaza's residents, including women, children and the elderly, who have borne the brunt of the suffering brought about by months of closures.

The Bureau of the Committee reminded Israel in most resolute terms that, as the occupying Power, it has a clear responsibility under the Fourth Geneva Convention to protect and ensure the well-being of the civilian population under its occupation.

The Bureau of the Committee stressed the permanent responsibility of the United Nations towards the question of Palestine until it is resolved in all its aspects in accordance with international law.

Meantime, a new report from the UN said that a border crossing into the Gaza Strip opened today, allowing a limited amount of humanitarian supplies to the 1.5 million residents forcibly confined to the area, the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process (UNSCO) reported today.

But fuel pipelines remained closed, leaving Gaza with continued disruptions to its power supplies and adding to the rapid decline of socio-economic conditions, UNSCO said.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) was able to get nine trucks into the area today as barriers at the Kerem Shalom crossing – close to the meeting of the border between Gaza, Israel and Egypt – were lifted for the first time in almost two weeks.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also managed to get eight trucks into Gaza, carrying luncheon meat and powdered milk for babies. However, authorities opened many of powdered milk containers with knives, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage, according to UNRWA.

UNRWA said that although its food distribution program will be able to resume tomorrow, it will operate for “days, not weeks,” stressing that it needs a consistent and large-scale influx of supplies to continue its operation.