CEASEFIRE CONTINUES - Troops pull back - Gunboats continue to fire on Gaza shore - Factions split on truce

Date: 19 / 01 / 2009  Time:  12:39
Gaza – Ma’an –

Israeli terrorist forces boats have continued to fire on Gaza shore despite the two unilaterally declared ceasefires from Israel and Gaza factions.

The morning hours of Monday witnessed a number of violations on the Israeli side, including a naval gunboat aiming its weapons and firing on an area near Gaza City. No injuries were reported.

Several eyewitnesses confirmed the reports.

At the same time, Israeli terrorist forces war jets dumped thousands of fliers over the Strip warning citizens to stay away from borer areas as Israel completes its withdrawal.

Ground troops have withdrawn from Gaza City, opening up the main road connecting the north and central Strip, Salahuddin. The coastal road has also been cleared. This has allowed displaced citizens to head back to their homes to inspect the damage.

South of Gaza City tanks have re-evacuated the abandoned Israeli settlement of Netsarim.

Troops have also reportedly withdrawn from the south, where they had moved in between Rafah and Khan Younis. Troops in the north have pulled back to near the border wall.

Locals say life is slowly coming back to the area.

Resistance factions, however, condemned the shots from Israeli warships, but asserted its commitment to the ceasefire, “from our concern over the higher interests of the Palestinian people.”

Not all factions were in agreement, however. Two factions claimed to have launched projectiles at Israeli targets, both asserted that the acts were to confirm their right to resist the Israeli presence in Gaza.

Hizbullah Palestine launches projectiles toward Israel; Hamas, Fatah and DFLP confirm commitment to truce

Date: 19 / 01 / 2009  Time:  13:12
Gaza - Ma’an -

While Hamas and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Brigades have reiterated their commitment to the ceasefire “in the interest of Palestinian civilians,” other factions including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and Hizbullah in Palestine continue to fire projectiles into Israel.

Hizbullah Palestine sent a statement Monday claiming to have launched two Radwan projectiles into Israel. This is part of what the fighters call their “Flame of Gaza” operation. They noted that they have shot five projectiles into Israel since the first unilateral ceasefire was called on Sunday morning.

Both Hizbullah Palestine and the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades (the armed wing of the PFLP) maintain their right to resistance.

For their part, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Fatah, and the Ayman Jouda Brigades both confirmed their commitment to the ceasefire and the Egyptian Initiative, but asserted their readiness to respond in the case that citizens are attacked.

Al-Aqsa Brigades: One Israeli soldier dead, dozens injured by fighters in Gaza

Date: 19 / 01 / 2009  Time:  09:52
Gaza- Ma’an –

During the 23 day onslaught in Gaza, Fatah’s armed wing the Al-Aqsa Brigades announced that it fired dozens of projectiles on Israeli targets and engaged in clashes with Israeli troops in Gaza.

According to the Brigades, three fighters were killed and sixteen others injured in airstrikes and clashes. Of those injured three are said to be in critical condition.

According to the Brigades, projectiles were launched as follows:

Ashkelon, 16 (+1 Grad)
Sderot, 22
Western Negev 19
Kissufim, 15 mortars
Al-Buraij military post 13 mortars

The Brigades statement said fighters “escaped death” after being attacked by an Israeli missile during a military operation.

They claimed to have been heavily involved with the Tel Al-Hawa battles, where one Al-Aqsa fighter was killed and several others injured.

Two fighters were killed in military action in Al-Tuwam, and six others injured.

One fighter was killed during clashes with the Israeli army in eastern Rafah.

Brigades claimed to have killed one Israeli soldier with sniper fire east of Jabaliya; an attack confirmed by Israeli sources.

Other Al-Aqsa attacks involved detonating an explosive device under an Israeli armored vehicle near the separation fence east of Gaza City. The statement estimated that the blast killed or seriously wounded the soldiers who were inside. They also damaged three other tanks in northern Gaza.

Gaza hospital appeals for nursing reinforcements

Date: 18 / 01 / 2009  Time:  20:41
Gaza – Ma’an –

Nasser Medical Compound in Khan Younis issued an urgent appeal for nurses in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement.

The hospital said it is calling on Arab nursing unions and international organizations working in healthcare to “urgently send nursing staff” to the Gaza Strip to fill a large void there.

A number of nurses, specifically in surgery, intensive care and emergency services, are particularly in need due to fatigue brought on by three weeks of intense violence in Gaza.

The appeal came as a Jordanian delegation of medical staff arrived to treat the injured in Israel’s war on Gaza.

According to Bassam Musalam, the head of the compound, the delegation was sent from a Jordanian nursing union after coordinating with counterparts in Khan Younis.

Musalamn noted that the Jordanian delegation is composed of four nurses now working “around the clock” to aid Palestinian staff.

Israeli terrorist forces stop aid convoy en route to Gaza from Hebron

Date: 18 / 01 / 2009  Time:  17:54
Hebron – Ma’an –

Israeli terrorist forces seized a UN aid convoy en route to the Gaza Strip in the southern West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian sources claimed.

Israeli terrorist forces reportedly apprehended the convoy, which was being taken from Hebron to the Gaza Strip, near the entrance of a tunnel leading to Jerusalem, they claimed.

Witnesses said the UN trucks and two trailers, which belong to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, were all collected en route to Gaza on Sunday.

"Better than yesterday," a conversation with John Ging

Date: 18 / 01 / 2009  Time:  17:24
Gaza – Ma’an/IRIN –

The Israeli terrorist government declared a unilateral ceasefire on 18 January. John Ging, head of UNRWA operations in Gaza, spoke with IRIN by phone from Gaza City on 17 and 18 January.

Is UNRWA able to deliver assistance to Gaza residents under the current conditions? What type of assistance is being delivered and to how many recipients?

The warehouse and all its contents were destroyed [in the 15 January Israeli attack on the UNRWA compound], and we could not deliver that day.

Gaza is now cut in two, so we are supporting the northern area and Gaza City from the [UNRWA] compound. The following day [16 January] we resupplied the compound from our warehouses in the south. We are continuing with our operations. Trucks are moving, but not safely.

There are 50,000 people are in our temporary shelters in our schools - they have to be fed every day. Some 80 percent of the [Gaza] population is food dependent on us.

Did UNRWA trucks only move during the daily three-hour lull to deliver humanitarian assistance?

We would not be able to support our operation effectively if we were limited to three hours. People were working around the clock in our installations to provide assistance.

The three-hour lull was for the people to feel safer to come out to get the assistance.

Bringing in goods from Kerem Shalom [border crossing] is a day's effort, at least 16 hours, then the supplies have to be unloaded and the goods prepared for distribution.

Today [17 January] 50 trucks entered via Kerem Shalom, but we need hundreds of trucks. The needs are growing exponentially and the pipeline for humanitarian supplies is very narrow. Even those, such as Palestinian Authority employees, who were not dependent [on UNRWA assistance], have become dependent. There is nothing on the market and there is no cash.

Aid - emergency supplies, food and medical - is coming in through Rafah.

Food distribution is operating at almost full capacity - it is interrupted in certain places day to day when the place becomes the scene of fighting.

We do all we can on a daily basis that is within the margins of safety for our staff to keep the operations running.
Seven of 10 food distribution centers are fully operational and 16 out of 20 health centers are fully operational.

UNRWA health staff is volunteering in the Ministry of Health hospitals and on ambulances teams - it's all hands on deck here!

If the border crossings are not opened consistently to bring in goods, will this increase demands on UNRWA?

We cannot contemplate that the crossings will remain closed; there must be a better future. The ordinary people here during this siege have paid the price of this conflict and this operation. For them, their singular priority is access to restore dignity to their existence.

The closures have driven thousands into aid dependency against their will - that has to end. A solution that prioritizes the needs of the ordinary people must be found.

You have headed UNRWA's operations in Gaza since January 2006, before Hamas won elections to govern the enclave. Will Israel's military operation bring peace and stability to the region?

No - it is counter-productive to that objective. The scale of death and destruction is most definitely counter-productive. Throughout this conflict so many experts and global leaders have highlighted there is no military solution to this conflict - an effective political solution is needed.

Now there are additional problems: so many people have been killed and [there has been widespread] destruction of infrastructure. There is no finance ministry or foreign affairs ministry. The American School, the presidential compound and the presidential residences have been destroyed - in addition to the massive destruction of housing. It will be very costly to restore Gaza. This money should have been invested in development not reconstruction.

What do you say about Israel's unilateral ceasefire?

Today [18 January] is a better day than yesterday and we hope there will continue to be positive developments every day until we can restore a dignified existence for the people in Gaza.


***The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is the lead UN agency working for Palestinian refugees.