"Palestinians gather around the remains of a Gaza City mosque Thursday after it was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike."
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"Israel ignores U.N. call for immediate cease-fire:
"Air force bombs at least 50 Gaza targets as 14-day assault rages on"
January 9, 2009
On MSNBC at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28404637
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel pushed ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the 14-day-old conflict.
Israeli warplanes dropped bombs on the outskirts of the city of Gaza, residents said. Elsewhere, Palestinian medics said tanks shelled a house in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, killing six Palestinians from the same family....
In New York, the Security Council passed a resolution urging an "immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire", and for Israel to withdraw from Gaza after its two-week air-and-ground offensive. The United States abstained....
...The U.N. resolution also said there should be "unimpeded provision" and distribution of aid to the territory, home to 1.5 million people, many of whom are dependent on food assistance.
Food shipments halted
On Thursday, the U.N. suspended food shipments to Gaza and the Red Cross accused Israel of blocking medical assistance after forces fired on aid workers, killing two, as the threat of a wider conflict emerged with Lebanon.
At least 750 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have died in fighting in Gaza since Dec. 27.
The conflict has left hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza increasingly desperate for food, water, fuel and medical assistance.
Simon Horner, of the European Commission aid department, said 60 percent of Gaza's people have no electricity, and fewer people every day have access to clean water. The sewage system is in danger of a failing, which could lead to an outbreak of disease, and medical services were under severe stress.
"The inability of the U.N. to provide assistance in this worsening humanitarian crisis is unacceptable," said Michele Montas, a U.N. spokeswoman.
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