19 days in, the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip passed another major milestone, with over 1,000 Palestinians killed in the attack. The Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which has been tracking the toll, said 673 of those killed were civilians, with 225 children and 69 women. 13 Israelis have also been killed, three of them civilians, though at least four of those soldiers were killed by the Israeli military.

Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger described the situation in the Gaza Strip as “shocking” and called for the Israeli military to make more provisions to ensure that ambulances could rescue wounded civilians from the attacks.

Surveyors say that the attack has done at least $1.4 billion in damage to the infrastructure of the tiny strip. Securing the funds will likely be difficult, particularly in the global economic downturn. So far the United Nations has allocated $7 million (less than $5 per Gazan) to provide for them during this time of emergency.

Israel ‘shells UN building’
Thursday, January 15 12:22 pm

UN Outraged As Its Gaza HQ Is Hit
Explosion hits media offices in Gaza
Israel apologises to Ban for hitting U.N. compound

Witnesses and UN officials said the United Nations Relief and Work Agency building was being used as a shelter for civilians fleeing the bombardment of the Palestinian enclave when it was struck.

UN spokesman Chris Gunness said: “Our compound in Gaza has now received three hits, reportedly of white phosphorus.

“Buildings in the compound are on fire, there are loaded fuel tankers nearby. Three people have been injured.

“It is not clear at this stage if they are UNWRA staff or some of the 700 or so civilians who have taken refuge in our compound.”

The use of white phosphorous, which causes horrific burns on contact with skin, was banned as a weapon of war in civilian areas under the 1980 Geneva protocol.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090115/r_t_itn_wl/twl-israel-shells-un-building-41f21e0_2.html?printer=1

Hamas Accepts Ceasefire. Will Israel?

After thousands dead and thousands seriously maimed and wounded, the truth is finally coming out. Israel has made a huge strategic blunder, slaughtered innocent civilians, and hasn’t wiped out Hamas. In fact, as Larry warned in the very beginning, Hamas has only been strengthened as the defenders of the people. This entire episode, like many others before it, i.e., Lebanon, is utterly depraved, and it is a war crime.

Top Israeli defense officials say that the military has accomplished all that it possibly could in nearly three weeks of attacks on the Gaza Strip, and they support the idea of ending the operations before the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama next week.

Foreign Minister and leader of the ruling Kadima Party Tzipi Livni expressed roughly the same sentiment yesterday, saying she thought the attacks should end without any formal agreement. Defense Minister Ehud Barak is openly endorsing the idea of stopping the attacks for a week while ceasefire negotiations continue to allow humanitarian aid into the strip.

Al-Arabiya is also reporting today that Hamas plans to accept the latest draft of the Egypt-brokered ceasefire agreement, so long as Israel withdraws its forces from the Gaza Strip. They also have scheduled a press conference for later in the day to formalize their position on the deal.

All this seems to be a recipe for ending the conflict, which has now claimed roughly 1,000 lives and caused enormous humanitarian strife in the Gaza Strip.

The only apparent obstacle to peace now is Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who last night was reported to be deliberately delaying a cabinet meeting to prevent any talk of a ceasefire and whose aides lashed out at Barak’s “lack of responsibility” in calling for a ceasefire, claiming he was aiding Hamas in doing so. Though wildly unpopular in Israel and having lost control of his own party, Olmert seems intent on keeping the war going as long as he possibly can.

And the whole world knows they are supplied by the United States.

I think we ALL know why Mort Zuckerman never mentions any of that.

A billionaire Jewish publisher, in the perfect position to promote one version of what’s going on.

Even the Pope now agrees with Pat Buchanan, describing Gaza as a concentration camp like South African apartheid.

Indeed, even the Jerusalem papers report that the IDF uses Palestinians as human shields, as does the British papers.

It is only the American press that does not.

Sad, what Americans are not being told, and how easily they are led—just like the invasion of Iraq, eh?

THAT is using civilians as shields.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/israel-gaza-un-court-palestine

Israeli ‘human shield’ claim is full of holes
Craig Nelson, Associate Editor

January 13. 2009

In 2005, Israel’s Supreme Court barred the IDF from using Palestinians as human shields, which had been a common practice.

The IDF euphemistically dubbed the procedure of forcing Palestinian civilians at gunpoint to go before them into buildings from which they feared attack its “neighbour procedure”. (“The idea is that a person is going in to warn people inside and explain the situation,” army spokesman Capt Jacob Dallal said at the time. “It’s done for the safety of everyone.”)

Despite the court ruling, the practice has continued, according to Israeli and international human rights groups. Amnesty International said last week that Israeli soldiers were taking over Palestinian homes in Gaza and using the homes as military observation and firing positions, effectively using their imprisoned occupants as “human shields”.

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090113/FOREIGN/591536290/1140