Gaza humanitarian crisis deepens

Some 3,500 people have been
wounded in Gaza, many seriously


.."Gaza is "on the cusp of catastrophe", a senior UN official currently in Gaza City has said"..

.."Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza for the past 18 months, allowing little more than humanitarian basics into the coastal territory. Health, energy and water infrastructure were already close to breaking point before the fighting broke out"..

.."Some 750,000 people - half Gaza's population - are dependent on food hand-outs from the UN relief agency, Unrwa. Distribution has been hampered by security problems and was suspended for a day on Friday 9 January after a truck driver for the UN was killed. The UN blamed Israeli fire, which the Israeli military later denied"..

.."Save the Children says it fears newborn and sick babies may be dying because their parents are unable to reach hospitals. At the Rafah crossing, Egyptian and foreign doctors have been prevented from entering Gaza from Egypt. Egypt, with Israel, closed the border when Hamas came to power in 2007"..