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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaking to reporters at UN headquarters earlier this month. (AP)
Last update - 14:36 20/01/2008
UN warns of humanitarian crisis as Israel seals Gaza crossings
By News Agencies and Haaretz Service
Tags: Ban Ki-moon, UNRWA, Gaza

UNITED NATIONS - United Nations officials implored Israel to reverse its decision Friday to seal all border crossings with the Gaza Strip, warning that the violence in the region and cutoff of crucial supplies for 1.4 million Palestinians was provoking a humanitarian crisis.

The Defense Ministry closed all border crossings with Gaza on Friday and prevented the delivery of a United Nations aid shipment. Only humanitarian cases given Defense Minister Ehud Barak's personal approval would be allowed through, the ministry said.

"If milk is low in Gaza, the minister will be asked to approve a milk shipment, and it will enter," a Defense Ministry spokesman said.
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"Such action cuts off the population from much-needed fuel supplies used to pump water and generate electricity to homes and hospitals," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "If this situation endures, the closure will also cause further shortages of food, medical and relief items in the Gaza Strip."

Ban urged an immediate end to the violence engulfing Gaza and southern Israel, including Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks into Israel, and he called on Israel's defense forces to use "maximum restraint."

He said he had "deep concern that the hostilities taking place on the ground will undermine the hopes for peace" that have come out of November's U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, which distributes cooking oil, flour and sugar to hundreds of thousands of Gazans, said it had about two months worth of supplies in its warehouses. However, "Gazans need to supplement the basics with nutritious foods, such as fruit, vegetables and proteins, which have become expensive and hard to find," said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness.

The International Committee of the Red Cross called on Israel and the Palestinians to respect international law and stop harming civilians. Christoph Harnisch, head of the organization's delegation to Israel and the Palestinian territories, said in a statement he was in daily contact with the Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian armed factions in an effort to persuade them to respect the civilian population.

Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror said Gazans had sufficient stocks of food so that no one would go hungry. "There is a government decision that there will not be a humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Dror said.

The deputy head of Israel's mission to the United Nations, Daniel Carmon,
told Reuters Israel's actions were "what any responsible government would do when it is confronted as we are with this surge of violence and terrorism."

He gave no indication of when the closure would end.

Israel sealed the Gaza border crossings to cut the flow of supplies in an attempt to pressure Hamas to halt its rocket fire, which kept falling in southern Israel. The violence has surged since Tuesday when an Israeli ground and air offensive against rocket squads killed 19 Palestinians.

The Gaza death toll had risen to 36, including at least 10 civilians, by Saturday.

"It is a crisis already," said John Holmes, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, who called it "unacceptable" and "morally unjustifiable" that Israel closed the border to a daily average of 120 trucks of food and humanitarian supplies entering Gaza from Israel.

"In Gaza, we're getting to a situation where virtually all of the population is dependent on international aid supplies," he said. "This violence is putting what is already an extremely worrying and fragile humanitarian situation into an even more dangerous context."

"The Israeli reaction is not justified by those rocket attacks, even though it's caused by those rocket attacks," said Holmes.

A the behest of Arab and Muslim countries, the UN Human Rights Council will hold an emergency session next Wednesday to examine Israel's new measures in Gaza, a UN source said.

"Gaza is completely shut down. This will only add to an already dire situation," said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), whose aid shipment on Friday was blocked.

The decision to close the crossings came after Israel vowed to broaden its military campaign against Gaza militants who have fired more than 130 rockets and 80 mortars at southern Israel in the last three days.

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      1.   So UN lied before about humanitarian crisis already in Gaza 02:40  |  Genuine Tosefta 19/01/08
      2.   If Israel exercises "maximum restraint" this means maximum Kassam 02:44  |  Genuine Tosefta 19/01/08
      3.   If the Gazans want food and medical supplies from Israel, have 02:45  |  Taszilo 19/01/08
      4.   Gaza completely shut down? 02:53  |  Nechama 19/01/08
      5.   No Crisis unless Egypt wants One Too 03:00  |  Mark of Lewiston 19/01/08
      6.   No Crisis without Egypt 03:34  |  Mark of Lewiston 19/01/08
      7.   UNRWA smuggling of kassam fuel in "aid" shipments has to stop. 03:46  |  Dr. L. Brnd 19/01/08
      8.   Israel provoked this whole war crime 03:50  |  Steve Katz 19/01/08
      9.   UN warning ! 04:15  |  Mark 19/01/08
      10.   Steve Katz 04:20  |  Taszilo 19/01/08
      11.   Once again, Israel Should be ashamed of itself. 04:31  |  POP 19/01/08
      12.   The UN in Gaza is a Disgrace 04:47  |  Ron 19/01/08
      13.   GREETINGS TO STEVEN KATZ IN MIAMI 04:58  |  BERNARD 19/01/08
      14.   to Mr. Katz #8 05:09  |  Dan 19/01/08
      15.   steve katz 05:12  |  vik 19/01/08
      16.   NOT ISRAEL RESPONSIBILITY 05:46  |  TOBIA 19/01/08
      17.   WHY WOULD HAMAS CARE? 05:47  |  JOSH Earn 19/01/08
      18.   crossings 05:56  |  Shmuelshachor 19/01/08
      19.   Gas`em all. Rocket fire will stop 06:13  |  Ian 19/01/08
      20.   Steve Katz 06:20  |  Moham 19/01/08
      21.   Israel may have sealed Gaza crossings but tunnels still operate 06:24  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      22.   P.S. John Holmes 06:34  |  Brad 19/01/08
      23.   Hope of Peace from Annapolis are Misleaded and illusive 06:38  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      24.   Misplaced Compassion Leads to Cruelty against Israel Citizenry 06:47  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      25.   Arabs Are Exploiting Humanitarian Aid to Smuggle Illegal 06:51  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      26.   Why does Israel refuse to allow Palestine to exist? 06:54  |  POP 19/01/08
      27.   IDF Fight Against Terror Must Disregard Antisemite UN Call 06:55  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      28.   Arabs-Muslims threatens thru UN Human Rights Council when Thermse 07:00  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      29.   it is holms with his lopsided logic who caused this humanitarian 07:06  |  ralph 19/01/08
      30.   The world should have far more important things to concern itself 07:08  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      31.   # 11 Pop 07:34  |  ATLAS 19/01/08
      32.   Appease Not arab Terror , Kill arab terror or terror kills you 07:49  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      33.   Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza 07:50  |  Jim 19/01/08
      34.   If Israel exercises "maximum restraint" this means maximum Kassam 07:58  |  Genuine Tosefta 19/01/08
      35.   So UN lied before about humanitarian crisis already in Gaza 07:58  |  Genuine Tosefta 19/01/08
      36.   Bomb Gaza Or Suffer behind Aushwitz borders 08:04  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      37.   UN warns of humanitarian crises as Israel seals Gaza crossings 08:05  |  Martiin List,M.D. 19/01/08
      38.   To #13,greetings... 08:07  |  Shmuelshachor 19/01/08
      39.   UN Human Right Council Must Demand the Release of Shalit 08:10  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      40.   Shame, Shame on you 08:13  |  Denise 19/01/08
      41.   WHERE DOES IT SAY THAT YOU HAVE TO FEED PEOPLE TRYING TO KILL YOU 08:30  |  Jorge 19/01/08
      42.   A Day of Rockets = A day Without Food/Fuel 08:31  |  R 19/01/08
      43.   what comes around goes around 08:49  |  Fred 19/01/08
      44.   Babylon prospered when its Jews prospered, 09:18  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      45.   The Arab world, which had been so blessed 09:24  |  Joseph E . 19/01/08
      46.   Just today`s news 09:31  |  Mae 19/01/08
      47.   Jorge 09:41  |  Mae 19/01/08
      48.   10/14/20 Israel started this 10:02  |  Steve Katz 19/01/08
      49.   The UN should suspend Israel as a criminal entity 10:31  |  Dutch 19/01/08
      50.   Mae 45 11:08  |  ChanahS 19/01/08
      51.   Agree with 7# 11:09  |  wendy 19/01/08
      52.   Totally aqgree with 41# 11:14  |  wendy 19/01/08
      53.   #2 by Real Tosefta - you put it all on paper perfectly 11:27  |  Johnny 19/01/08
      54.   So eloquently a put Mae, 11:31  |  Kiwi girl 19/01/08
      55.   Brynd 11:48  |  Sugar and Potassium 19/01/08
      56.   UN in Gaza N0.12 11:53  |  Palestinian Brit 19/01/08
      57.   Mpore people are going to wash their hands of this state 11:54  |  John 19/01/08
      58.   Israels mantra: "See what you made me do?! Again!!" 11:54  |  Natallie Durson 19/01/08
      59.   Time to stop worring about a "Humanitarian Crisis" 12:43  |  Shlomo 19/01/08
      60.   gaza crossings 12:51  |  kay heggie 19/01/08
      61.   gaza crossings 13:04  |  kay 19/01/08
      62.   Listening to the UN costs Israeli lives 13:08  |  SystemF 19/01/08
      63.   Palestinians in danger of running out of rockets. 13:09  |  SystemF 19/01/08
      64.   Suypplying the enemy 13:25  |  Hilda 19/01/08
      65.   Steve Katz No. 8 13:39  |  Jackie 19/01/08
      66.   JORGE 13:49  |  SPEAKER 19/01/08
      67.   People are going to be in the streets over this 13:52  |  Dutch 19/01/08
      68.   Hey Kiwi girl 14:05  |  Mae 19/01/08
      69.   Oh, boo, hoo! Poor Gaza! 14:06  |  Nechama 19/01/08