[News] Israel shells hospital, UN compound, Free Gaza boat turned back

[Anti-Imperialist News]

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UPDATED ON:
Thursday, January 15, 2009   17:14 Mecca time, 14:14 GMT
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/200911510353779666.html

Israel shells hospital, UN compound

Israeli forces have shelled a hospital and UN compound as they 
continue to pound Gaza City while pushing deeper into 
densely-populated neighbourhoods.

Thousands of fear-stricken Gazans fled the advancing Israeli trooops 
on Thursday, but observers said there was nowhere safe for them to 
take refuge in the territory that is under relentless Israeli attack.

Officials said that a building of the UN relief agency in Gaza had 
been hit by Israeli shells and set ablaze.

"They are phosphorus fires so they are extremely difficult to put out 
because if you put water on it, it will just generate toxic fumes and 
do nothing to stop the burning," John Ging, the director of UN relief 
operations, said.

"This is going to burn down the entire warehouse ... thousands and 
thousands of tonnes of food, medical supplies and other emergency 
assistance are there."

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, said he was "outraged" by the 
attack on the UN compound and demanded an explanation as he met 
Israeli officials in Tel Aviv.

Intense shelling

About 500 people were inside the hospital in Tal al-Hawa when it came 
under attack. Many had taken shelter in the hope of escaping the onslaught.

"The last hit was on the Red Crescent's operations building and 
destroyed the pharmacy. There's a hole in the roof and a fire is 
still burning," Sharon Locke, a hospital volunteer, told Al Jazeera.

A building housing a number of international media organisations and 
several housing blocks were also reportedly hit on Thursday.

Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Gaza City, said that the 
Israeli shelling was the closest to the centre of the city that it 
had been during the Israeli offensive.

"There have, no doubt, been a series of air strikes that have 
destroyed so many of the buildings here in the heart of Gaza City, 
but this is the first time we have seen this kind of shelling," he said.

"We are getting some very horrific accounts from people trapped in 
buildings unable to leave."

Mays al-Khatib, a Gaza resident, was speaking to Al Jazeera on the 
telephone when her building came under attack.

"The shelling is continuous since last night, we are here in this 
place, we are around 500 families here under bombardment," she was 
narrating, when the telephone went dead.

Al Jazeera sources said she survived, though her building collapsed.

Israel also hit smuggling tunnels from Egypt into the southern Rafah 
area of Gaza.

"They used bombs that went deep into the tunnels and shook the whole 
Rafah refugee camp. The land trembled beneath our feet," Bassam 
Abdallah, a local Palestinian cameraman, said.

One of Israel's stated objectives is to stop the smuggling of weapons 
across the border to Palestinian fighters.

The tunnels are also used to bring in basic supplies for the 
territory which has been suffering under an Israeli blockade.

At least 1,054 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began its 
assault on the Gaza Strip on December 27, medics said.

More than 4,800 people have been injured in the violence.

'Unbearable' toll

Ban told a news conference in Tel Aviv that the death toll was "unbearable".

"The time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change 
fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza"

Ban Ki-moon,
UN secretary-general
"The time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change 
fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza and to pursue again the peace 
talks for a two-state solution which is the only road for lasting 
security for Israel," he said.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed in the conflict, including three civilians.

However, the two sides appeared to be inching closer towards a 
ceasefire deal on Thursday.

Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli envoy, was expected to meet Egyptian 
mediators in Cairo after a Hamas delegation gave its view on the 
proposed agreement.

Meanwhile, a Greek-flagged vessel trying to break the blockade of the 
Gaza Strip with medical aid for the Palestinians was turned back to 
Cyprus by an Israeli naval vessel.

Huwaida Arraf, an organiser with the US-based Free Gaza Movement, 
said that the boat was intercepted about 100 miles northeast of Gaza.

"They got very close and they threatened that if we continued they 
would open fire on us," she told the Reuters news agency.

"They surrounded us with about four warships making it very difficult 
to navigate. They said they would use all means to keep us out of Gaza."
  Source: Al Jazeera and agencies




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