Gaza Is Out Of Food And Medicine

[Purveyor]

30 Dec 2008 19:35:38 GMT

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dreadful. They are out of flour for bread, there's zero stock of medicine and the hospitals have no more room for the wounded." says Fadia Daibes Murad, DanChurchAid's representative in Palestine. "I am in constant contact with our coordinator in Gaza. He's very scared that Israel are going to send tanks and ground troops into Gaza. This will worsen the situation beyond imagination." Together with a group of partners from ACT International, DanChurchAid is setting up supply of emergency aid for Gaza. A local partner has three mobile clinics ready inside Gaza, which can be deployed to treat wounded as soon as they receive support for medical supplies. Also, aid supplies of food, gas and petrol is being coordinated through local partners and UN agencies.

However, organizing a humanitarian response in Gaza is no easy task. The areas around Gaza have been declared closed military zones by the Israeli military, and this complicates the task of the aid agencies trying to support the population in Gaza.

"I don't want to sound pessimistic, but it is alarming how little is happening. I keep reading stories in the media that two or three trucks with aid have crossed the border from Israel. But honestly – What difference does two or three trucks make?", says Fadia Daibes Murad.

"The main problem we're dealing with is access. Access to the area itself and access to the goods we need to distribute. We are trying to assess what is needed, where to get it and how to get it over the border and into Gaza. Right now we're considering bringing in supplies over the Egyptian border.".

West bank is a powder keg

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DanChurchAid/Reuters AlertNet: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/danchaid/6c82b0f6fcb7cb678a6107aea5a1a584.htm

[Taverner]

1. If the US wanted to make a real statement

It would get permission to fly over...and then drop humanitarian aid

But we won't of course...

[skooooo]

2. Why should we?

We couldn't even do that for our own people during Katrina.

[Taverner]

3. Very true - we didn't

And it shows the real priority of the government

I would hope that would change, but I know it won't

[Recursion]

4. We don't want a USS Liberty sequel NT

[Moose4Biden]

5. Horrible

This is a horrible situation. Israel has tried to 'teach Hamas a lesson' many times now. Each time, Hamas comes back with more resolve. Does this surprse anyone? Does anyone expect that this will foster peace and goodwill?

Osama bin Laden tried to teach us a lesson back in September 2001. We all remember that day, but do you remember his lesson? I don't. I vaguely heard something about his stance against the Saudi royalty that we support, and Bush, of course, explained that he "hated our freedom", but if there was any nuanced message that he was trying to get across to the world, other than "We kill Americans", it got lost. As a result of the bombings, almost everyone rallied behind George Bush. Even I rallied behind that bastard. That's the effect an external attack causes - it bolsters nationalism to unheard of levels. That happened after 9/11, it happened after Pearl harbor, it happened after Blitzkrieg, it happened after Dresden, etc., etc.

This 'war' will do nothing but further destabilize Gaza, and convince more Palestinians that Israel is their mortal enemy.

[aquart]

6. Curious. Why is the Egyptian border the LAST resort?

Why didn't their fellow Muslims throw that border open and whisk those supplies in LONG ago? How is it Israel's responsibility to ensure the well-being of those who want them dead? Please explain that one to me.

Surely, Egypt wants its Palestinian neighbors to thrive and grow in numbers. I mean, why wouldn't they?

[madrchsod]

7. it is collective punishment-

it is a war crime and nothing will be done against the leaders of Israel.

[Fozzledick]

8. Tell me when they run out of rockets

They've chosen their own priorities.

[Behind the Aegis]

9. Hamas lends a helping hand.

On Monday, Dr. Ashour was not the only official in charge. Armed Hamas militants in civilian clothes roamed the halls. Asked their function, they said it was to provide security. But there was internal bloodletting under way.

In the fourth-floor orthopedic section, a woman in her late 20s asked a militant to let her see Saleh Hajoj, her 32-year-old husband. She was turned away and left the hospital. Fifteen minutes later, Mr. Hajoj was carried out by young men pretending to transfer him to another ward. As he lay on the stretcher, he was shot in the left side of the head.

Mr. Hajoj, like five others killed at the hospital this way in 24 hours, was accused of collaboration with Israel. He had been in the central prison awaiting trial by Hamas judges; when Israel destroyed the prison on Sunday he and the others were transferred to the hospital. But their trials were short-circuited.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/world/middleeast/30mideast.html?th&emc=th