OneWorld.net (U.S.)

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 1 (OneWorld.net) - Amid growing concerns about a possible humanitarian disaster, international aid organizations and human rights groups are urging the United Nations Security Council to take immediate action against the ongoing Israeli military aggression in Gaza that has resulted in nearly 400 deaths and injuries to over 1,000 people.

Palestinian children. © Grassroots International"There must be a robust response from the international community to achieve an immediate and permanent ceasefire," said Nicole Widdersheim of Oxfam International, a global charity organization that is providing food and water for Palestinians affected by the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Tens of thousands of people in Gaza depend on Oxfam and other international humanitarian aid organizations for the basics of life -- clean water, food, and sanitation. Before the recent Israeli bombing campaign, Gaza had been isolated from the outside world for more than a year and a half.

"It is time for the Security Council to urgently pass a binding resolution demanding an immediate halt to violence in Gaza and Israel by all parties and an end to the blockade," said Widdersheim. "It is unacceptable for collective and decisive action to be delayed because of the holiday period. It will be no happy new year for thousands of civilians left without food, electricity, or running water."

On Monday, the UN Security Council issued a statement expressing its "serious concern" over the devastating Israeli air strikes on Gaza, but failed to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire because, as in the past, the United States would not agree to take a position against Israel.

On Tuesday, a UN spokesperson told reporters that the Middle East Quartet -- comprising the United Nations, United States, European Union, and Russia -- held a teleconference to discuss the situation in Gaza. During that meeting, the Quartet called for an immediate ceasefire.

The UN Security Council held a consultation Wednesday evening to discuss a resolution presented by Libya that called for "an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect by both sides." No agreement was made, however, as Western diplomats reportedly called the draft unbalanced.

Oxfam officials said they have been forced to suspend their relief operations for more than 60,000 people in Gaza due to the Israeli bombing and that many of their aid workers in the area are "besieged, restricted to their homes, and in fear for their and their families' lives."

"In the long run this policy will benefit no-one except those who always profit from war and exploitation. Only a just and lasting peace, achieved through a negotiated agreement, can provide both Palestinians and Israelis the security they want and deserve."
- Jewish Voice for PeaceShortly before the Security Council meeting Wednesday, the UN chief for relief operations in Palestine, Karen AbuZayd, told reporters in a video-link briefing that people in Gaza are "without the most basic food commodities and have suffered enough."

In an earlier statement, AbuZayd said she was horrified by the current situation in Gaza and wanted the Israeli government to heed calls for ceasing its bombardment.

Before the recent attacks on Gaza, aid organizations had repeatedly stressed that the Israeli blockade was hindering their efforts to reach out to Gazans who were in dire need of food and medicine.

Currently, nearly half of the 1.5 million people living in Gaza do not have enough food to meet their basic needs. A majority of the population of Gaza are refugees who were driven out of their ancestral lands as a result of the Israeli occupation in 1948.

In a joint statement early this week, Oxfam and other aid agencies -- including Atlanta-based CARE International, the German group Medico International, and the Swedish group Diakonia -- said the Israeli bombardment of Gaza had further complicated their humanitarian efforts in the territory and it was causing more suffering to the innocent, especially women and children.

According to the Democracy and Workers' Rights Center, a nongovernmental group based in Gaza and the West Bank, the blockade imposed by Israel over the past several months has already created a scarcity of cooking gas, and after the recent attacks, the people of Gaza are now condemned to live without electricity and water.

Though critical of the Palestinian group Hamas' rocket firing into the Israeli territory, a number of U.S.-based rights advocacy groups as well as Jewish organizations condemned Israeli actions in Gaza and demanded that Israel refrain from targeting civilians.

"Firing rockets into civilian areas with the intent to harm and terrorize Israelis has no justification whatsoever, regardless of Israel's actions in Gaza," said Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch (HRW). "At the same time, Israel should not target individuals and institutions in Gaza solely because they are part of the Hamas-run political authority....Only attacks on military targets are permissible, and only in a manner that minimizes civilian casualties."

Like the International Committee of the Red Cross and many other humanitarian and rights organizations, HRW strongly criticized Israel's policy of severely restricting the flow of people and goods into Gaza, including fuel and other civilian necessities, saying that these restrictions amount to "collective punishment" against the people of Gaza.

"Israel continues to exercise effective control over Gaza's borders and airspace as well as its population registry, and remains the occupying power there under international law," HRW said in a statement noting that international law "prohibits the occupying power from attacking, destroying, or withholding objects essential to the survival of the civilian population."

In addition to the mounting criticism from human rights groups, worldwide protests against the Israeli attacks on Gaza are continuing. Such protests include a number of Jewish organizations in the United States and Europe.

This week, the Oakland, California-based group Jewish Voice for Peace joined millions around the world, including the 1,000 Israelis who protested in the streets of Tel Aviv last weekend, in condemning the ongoing attacks.

"We call for an immediate end to attacks on all civilians, whether Palestinian or Israeli," the group said in a statement describing the blockade of Gaza that preceded the attacks as a "slow strangulation" of Palestinians and "a violation of humanitarian law."

Noting that the attack on Gaza took place at a time when a new U.S. administration was about to take charge and that elections in Israel were due very soon, the group decried the military action as "an opportunistic agenda for short-term political gain at an immense cost in Palestinian lives."

In its statement, the Jewish nonprofit group said: "In the long run this policy will benefit no-one except those who always profit from war and exploitation. Only a just and lasting peace, achieved through a negotiated agreement, can provide both Palestinians and Israelis the security they want and deserve."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the UN chief was fully engaged in diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire after five days of Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

At the end of the Security Council's closed-door meeting Wednesday night, Ban issued a statement saying he wanted "an immediate ceasefire" that is "fully respected by all parties."

"Even as this crisis rages, let us never forget the underlying issue: there must be an end to occupation, an end to conflict, and the creation of a Palestinian State.

OneWorld.net: Latest News, Groups Working on Palestinian and Israeli Issues