Statement by International Aid Organizations protesting restrictions to humanitarian aid to Gaza
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- Written by Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA) Association of International Development Agencies (AIDA)
- Published: 17 November 2008 17 November 2008
- Hits: 2692 2692
Blockaded Gaza 'faces disaster'
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 14 November 2008 14 November 2008
- Hits: 3703 3703
The UK-based aid agency Oxfam has warned of catastrophe for Gaza and nearby areas of Israel if a truce agreed last June is not maintained.
Oxfam called on world leaders to do everything they could to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and urged Israel to resume supplies without delay.
Israel has shut border crossings in response to rocket attacks from Palestinian militants in Gaza.
Earlier Israel fired missiles at targets in northern Gaza.
Israeli blockade forces UN to suspend food distribution in Gaza
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- Written by Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem
- Published: 13 November 2008 13 November 2008
- Hits: 3330 3330
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said today it would have to suspend food distribution in Gaza after Israel blocked humanitarian supplies from entering the strip.
Israel also prevented delivery of industrial diesel, which is paid for by the EU and used for the strip's sole power plant. Palestinian officials said the plant, which has already shut down once this week, would have to close by last night if no more fuel was delivered.
Israeli officials blamed Palestinian rocket fire out of Gaza. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli defence ministry, said the border crossings were shut today because of "continued rocket fire and security threats at the crossings". For the past week Israel has also stopped journalists from entering Gaza.
It was not clear if food and fuel shipments would be allowed in tomorrow. Gaza's crossings close early Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.
The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which supports Palestinian refugees and provides them with regular food baskets, said food distribution would have to stop from tomorrow. "Our warehouses are empty and our food distribution to 750,000 people will be suspended if we cannot get food in," said Christopher Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman.
The renewed fighting and delayed shipments signal the gradual collapse of a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant groups which had held for nearly five months. Last week Israel killed six Hamas gunmen in a raid into Gaza which they said was aimed at destroying a tunnel they feared would be used to capture Israeli soldiers.
Hamas, and other militant groups, began firing rockets into southern Israel and have continued over several days. Israeli troops then killed four Hamas gunmen in Gaza in an attack yesterday, and Palestinian militants responded by firing several rockets this morning into southern Israel.
"The UN has been very clear that we should not hand the agenda over to those who fire rockets," said John Ging, head of Gaza operations for UNRWA.
"They shouldn't dictate whether the crossings are open or not for the civilian population here."
Israel's deputy defence minister, Matan Vilnai, suggested the ceasefire might yet continue. "Without a doubt, it is faltering, but it isn't over," he told Israel Radio.
Earlier this week the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, travelled to an army base near Gaza and warned another military confrontation was coming.
"The question is not whether there will be a confrontation," he said, "but when it will take place, under what circumstances, and who will control these circumstances."
Blair: Obama can help forge Israeli-Palestinian peace
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- Written by CNN CNN
- Published: 11 November 2008 11 November 2008
- Hits: 3450 3450
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/11/09/blair.obama.mideast/index.html
* Story Highlights
* U.S. president-elect can do "great deal" to advance peace process, Blair says
* Mideast Quartet met with Israelis, Palestinians on Sunday
* Quartet: Israel, Palestinian Authority have made "substantial" progress
* Blair: Obama has "tremendous opportunity" to help forge deal
JERUSALEM (CNN) -- U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has "a tremendous opportunity" to help negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan that could help "empower the forces of ... moderation in the Islamic world," former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Sunday.
Blair, envoy for the Mideast Quartet -- four international entities seeking peace between Israel and the Palestinians -- said Obama can capitalize on a recent international consensus on how to achieve peace in the Middle East.
"There is an agreed way forward. ... There are measures now in place to build the institutions of Palestinian statehood at the same time as giving security to the Israelis," Blair told CNN.
"Right from very outset of the new [Obama] administration, we [should] treat this issue with the seriousness and the priority it needs and deserves," Blair said.
Blair spoke from Jerusalem hours after he and other representatives from the Quartet -- the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia -- met in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to assess the progress of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Though no Israeli-Palestinian deal has been reached since last year's Annapolis, Maryland, summit -- during which both sides agreed to work toward a peace deal -- Blair stressed that "we've got a far clearer sense of how this thing can and should be done."
"I think there's a great deal that a new President Obama can do. There's a tremendous opportunity I think to move this forward," Blair said. "I think the big difference between now and, say, 15 months ago is that within the international community ... there is a clear agreement as to how we resolve this, with the proper plans in place to do it.
"Now, we then have to go and implement those plans, and that's a tough challenge."
After Sunday's meeting in Egypt, the Quartet issued a statement saying Israel and the Palestinian Authority have made "substantial" progress. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had briefed the Quartet on the progress of the peace talks.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who read the statement to reporters, reiterated the Quartet's call for Israel to halt Jewish settlement activity in Palestinian territory and for the Palestinian Authority to dismantle terrorist infrastructure.
It said the two parties should continue bilateral negotiations without international intervention. The secretary general then said the spring of 2009 could be an appropriate time for an international meeting in Moscow, Russia.
During the 2007 Annapolis summit, Israeli and Palestinian officials set the end of 2008 as a goal for completing a peace treaty. But last week the White House said an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is unlikely before a new U.S. president takes office.
Speaking in Israel on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said one factor impeding a deal was recent political change in Israel, which she noted is "in the midst of elections."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned in September amid allegations of corruption. Livni, the foreign minister and Kadima Party leader, abandoned efforts to form a new coalition government late last month and is seeking to hold early general elections, which a Livni spokesman has said could be held in February.
Olmert will lead as Israel's interim prime minister until a successor assumes power either by forming a coalition in the current Knesset or through general elections. However, it is unclear whether he will be able to strike a deal with the Palestinians before Israel forms its new government.
Rice last week stressed that "a firm foundation" has been established by the outgoing Bush administration for a future agreement.
Blair said getting a peace deal implemented would have broader consequences in the Middle East.
"If we were able to make progress in the Israeli-Palestinian issue, that would also hugely empower and help the forces of modernization and moderation within Islamic world who really want to put the dispute behind it and want to coexist peacefully with the Western world," he said.
All AboutIsrael • Middle East Conflict • Tony Blair
UN warns over Gaza food blockade, "shameful and unacceptable"
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 11 November 2008 11 November 2008
- Hits: 3606 3606
The UN refugee agency Unwra, which distributes food to half of Gaza's 1,5m people, called the blockade "a physical as well as a mental punishment".
Israel is now allowing a limited amount of fuel across the border, but it is still blocking food deliveries.
{josquote} It is a further illustration of the barbarity of this inhuman blockade -- Christopher Gunness, Unrwa spokesman{/josquote}
It says it tightened sanctions because of rocket attacks by militants.
Read more: UN warns over Gaza food blockade, "shameful and unacceptable"