Massive British support for Gaza ceasefire
The conflict is now in its third week
Foreign secretary David Miliband has used tough language against Israel in his statement to parliament on the conflict in the Middle East.
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Opposition parties are hopping mad about the government's "complacency" on the European energy crisis. But with the headlines focused elsewhere they're not getting very far. |  |
Tuesday, 13, Jan 2009 05:28
By Ian Dunt and Richard James
A Save the Children campaign to have Britons text their support for a Gaza ceasefire has provoked a massive response.
By yesterday morning 100,000 texts had been received, with the charity receiving one text every second on Saturday night. The campaign was launched on Friday.
The charity believes it may be the most successful charity texting campaign yet.
"This is an unprecedented response and the message from our text campaign is loud and clear – the British public want an end to the bombing in Gaza," said Adrian Lovett, Save the Children's director of campaigns.
"A huge number of the British public care what is happening in Gaza and have taken action.
Right now the fighting is still going on and one child dies in Gaza every three hours. Public support can and must make a change."
After 15 days of bombing, 189 children are estimated to have been killed, although concrete figures are hard to come by due to the obstacles faced by aid agencies.
To add your voice to the petition text CEASEFIRE to 81819.
politics.co.uk is conducting a poll on the conflict. To vote on Israel's actions click here.
In a separate development, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution condemning Israel's military offensive in Gaza.
The non-binding ruling approved in Geneva on Monday announced Israel's actions had "resulted in massive violations of human rights of the Palestinian people".
Reports suggest that over 900 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, which is now into its third week, and more than 4,000 others have been wounded.
The UN resolution called for an international mission to be sent to the Gaza Strip to look into Israel's actions, also calling for an immediate end to the rocket attacks launched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Israel's prime minister Ehud Olmert earlier issued a stark warning to the militants, claiming they would continue to feel Israel's "iron fist" as long as the rocket fire continued.
Ahead of his visit to the region, the UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon also appealed to both sides to agree on a ceasefire, saying too many civilians had died.
Reports on Tuesday suggest Israeli troops have advanced to the southern and eastern suburbs of Gaza City, after another night of heavy air strikes.
This morning there was a let-up in the fighting though after the Israeli military agreed to a three-hour ceasefire from 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT) to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Elsewhere, an Israeli army patrol in the West Bank allegedly came under fire from within Jordan, although no-one was injured in the incident