Aid agencies united in condemning Israel
Friday, 9 January 2009 12:01 AM
By Ian Dunt
Aid agencies have launched a series of unprecedented attacks on Israel as the full scale of devastation in Gaza becomes clear.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) - which usually refrains from commenting on conflicts in order to work effectively behind the scenes - issued a strongly-worded attack on the Israeli military after discovering four emaciated children living next to the corpses of their mothers in houses in Gaza City.
"This is a shocking incident," said Pierre Wettach, the ICRC's head of delegation for Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
"The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestine Red Crescent [Society] to assist the wounded."
The ICRC said the Israeli military had failed to meet its obligation under international humanitarian law to care for and remove the wounded.
"The ICRC/PRCS team found four small children next to their dead mothers in one of the houses," a statement issued by the emergency aid service read.
"They were too weak to stand up on their own. One man was also found alive, too weak to stand up. In all, there were at least 12 corpses lying on mattresses."
The statement has shocked international analysts precisely because the Red Cross adopts such a neutral stance in the way it does business. It was the only aid organisation allowed into Guanatanamo Bay, for instance, primarily because it refused to issue damning statements about the prison.
Amnesty International also launched damaging attacks on Israeli military tactics yesterday.
Malcolm Smart, the human rights organisation's Middle East and North Africa programme director, said the Israelis were using some Palestinians as human shields - the very accusation used by Israeli military figures against Hamas.
"Our sources in Gaza report that Israeli soldiers have entered and taken up positions in a number of Palestinian homes, forcing families to stay in a ground floor room while they use the rest of their house as a military base and sniper position," Mr Smart said.
"This clearly increases the risk to the Palestinian families concerned and means they are effectively being used as human shields."
Meanwhile, a coalition of aid agencies demanded the EU terminate negotiations with Israel aimed at establishing closer ties.
The coalition, which includes Oxfam, World Vision, Muslim Aid and Christian Aid, said Brussels should use ongoing talks on closer EU-Israel relations as a lever to bring about a ceasefire.
The efforts come as the UK halts its aid programme in the region following the killing of two of its drivers yesterday.
"UNRWA [the UN's main aid agency] decided to suspend all its operations in the Gaza Strip because of the increasing hostile actions against its premises and personnel," said Adnan Abu Hasna, the agency's Gaza-based spokesman.
Richard Miron, a UN spokesman, said the Israeli army had been notified in advance about the UNRWA convoy, which was hit by a tank shell while approaching the Erez crossing with Israel.
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