Holy Land: soon there will be no trees in Gaza

As the ceasefire with Hamas approaches its final hours, Israel yesterday launched a full scale offensive involving armored vehicles and aircraft in Gaza, the Missionary News Service (MISNA) report.

Fifteen people were arrested in the West Bank near Nablus. One Palestinian was killed and another wounded.

Israel has justified the attacks as a response to the resumption of missile launches, while Palestinians blame Israel of having killed a member of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank.

"Here in Gaza, this is just the dramatic daily routine, a lethal circle" Tamir al-Bahari, from the NGO Educaid, told MISNA. "We all hope the ceasefire will be prolonged and we also hope that the Israelis will reopen the borders".

He said: " There are massive shortages. The population is only surviving thanks to humanitarian aid from the UN and other agencies."

"What little manages to get through the tunnels that separate us from Egypt, is not enough to satisfy the minimum needs of children; there is no meat, milk, baby food, medicines. At night we light candles, we have no more than eight to ten hours of electricity a day".

In Gaza, there is also a growing scarcity of gas and when it is available it comes at ever more prohibitive prices: "Now" , said al-Bahari "people are burning fresh wood. If it continues like this, in three weeks there will no longer be a single tree left in Gaza".

Meanwhile, as UNRWA said it has not been able to deliver aid to the people of Gaza on account of further restrictions imposed by Israel.

On Tuesday, the spokesman of the Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades (the armed branch of the movement) said the decision about prolonging the ceasefire would be taken in the next few days. Ismail Haniyeh, head of the government in Gaza, said that the ceasefire also includes open talks with Egypt and other Palestinian groups.

Calling for the revival of the Israeli Palestinian peace process, Italian president Giorgio Napolitano has asked the international community "not to spare any effort in support of peace" at a time when "the talks are undergoing an extremely delicate phase".

Source: MISNA