Juan Cole writes:
The UN is halting its relief works in Gaza, after an Israeli tank
fired on a UN truck, killing the driver:
' "The IDF knows all of our movements, and coordinates. Despite
that we are still coming under attack," says Chris Gunness, a
spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). "Until the
[Israeli Defense Forces] can guarantee the safety and security of our
staff, everything is suspended."'
It is hard not to suspect that the Israeli army doesn't actually want
the aid workers in Gaza (they have already excluded reporters) because
of what the workers find when they look into the rubble of buildings
the army has hit. AP writes:
' During a three-hour pause in the fighting to allow in food and
fuel and let medics collect the dead, nearly three dozen bodies were
found beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings in Gaza City. Many of
the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red
Cross said rescuers discovered young children too weak to stand who
had stayed by their dead mothers. The aid group accused Israel of an
"unacceptable" delay in allowing workers to reach the area."
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has admitted that pictures of civilian
deaths coming out of Gaza generate pressure on Israel for a
cease-fire, which the government is resisting for as long as possible.
Half of Gazans are children, and half of Gazans depend on external
food aid. Even with that aid, about 17% of Gazans are malnourished. If
the UN doesn't deliever food supplies, you are talking about
vulnerable populations facing starvation.
[Could it be that Israel also does not want more objective observers
to see atrocities? so that it can label as "Hamas Propaganda" any
viewpoint (like that of the PM of Spain) that differs from the
official Line?]
--
Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own
way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
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