Special report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts
GAZA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations for
Relief and Work Agency in the Far East (UNRWA) suspended on Thursday providing
humanitarian aids for the Gaza residents due to Israeli attacks on its
institutions.
An official UNRWA statement sent to reporters said
the humanitarian organization decided to suspend providing Gaza Strip population
with its aid after Israel targeted its schools and food-laden trucks.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army fired two
surface-to-surface shells at a school run by the organization that shelters
dozens of families in the northern Gaza Strip refugee camp of Jabalia, killing
more than 40 civilians.
Earlier, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli
attack on another school in the beach refugee camp in western Gaza City. A UNRWA
employee was killed in a third strike on one of the schools.
Also on Thursday, Israeli soldiers opened fire at a
UNRWA food-laden truck in northern Gaza Strip, killing the driver and wounding
another worker in the truck.
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Palestinians gather at the site of a
destroyed mosque following an Israeli air strike in Gaza City, Jan. 8,
2009. (Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
The UNRWA decided earlier to open 11 of the schools
that it runs in the Gaza Strip to host dozens of homeless families whose houses
were bombarded by the Israeli warplanes and tanks.
A senior medical official in Gaza said on Thursday
763 Palestinians have been killed and 3,120 others wounded in 13 days of Israeli
military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, told reporters 763 people were
killed and 3,120 wounded, including 375 in critical conditions, during the
Israeli air and ground military operations.
UN Security Council to meet on Gaza conflict
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security
Council is scheduled to meet on the Gaza conflict again at 5 p.m. EST (22:00
GMT) on Thursday, the UN Spokesman's Office announced.
The announcement came as top diplomats from Arab and
Western countries are meeting behind closed doors to discuss the proposals on
how to end the conflict in Gaza, which already lasted 13 days and left more than
700 Palestinians killed.
UN chief condemns Israeli firing on UN
aid convoy in Gaza
UNITED
NATIONS, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Thursday condemns
Israel's firing on UN aid convoy in Gaza and called again for an immediate
ceasefire.
Michele Montas, the UN spokesperson, said in a statement
that "the secretary-general condemns the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) firing on a
United Nations aid convoy in Gaza, the killing of two UNRWA (the UN Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) contract workers and the
injuring of another. "
Medicial official: 763 killed, 3,120
wounded in Gaza offensive
GAZA, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- A senior medical official in Gaza said on Thursday that
763 Palestinians have been killed and 3,120 others wounded in 13 days of Israeli
military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, told reporters 763 people were
killed and 3,120 wounded, including 375 in critical conditions, during the
Israeli air and ground military operations.
Israeli PM hints possible escalation of Gaza
operation
JERUSALEM, Jan. 8
(Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday said that his
government might order the army to step up the ongoing offensive in the Gaza
Strip to achieve its goals.
"The bottom line, the test that will set the political
leadership's decision, is how to assure that the reality that the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) is currently changing does not again control the south and that
quiet prevails," he said during a visit to the army's Gaza division.
Israel shells houses, schools in 11th
day of offensive
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Israel pressed on with its airstrikes on the Gaza
Strip on Tuesday by shelling houses and a school run by the United Nations,
killing 82 Palestinians, the majority women and children, in the eleventh day of
violence.
An Israeli air and ground strike on al-Fakhoura school run by the UN agency
for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia refugee camp on Tuesday evening
killed 46 people and wounded 150 others, medics said.
Israeli army strikes Gaza's UN School,
40 killed: Medics
GAZA, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The death toll has risen to 40
Palestinians killed and dozens wounded on Tuesday afternoon when the Israeli
army struck a school run by the United Nations in the Jabalia refugee camp in
northern Gaza Strip, medics said.
Mo'aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance
services in the Palestinian Health Ministry told reporters that 40 civilians
were killed and dozens injured in the strike on the al-Fakhoura school in the
refugee camp.
