The latest news from Gaza is bleak.
13 days into the conflict, the death toll has risen to more than 680, with thousands more injured. 1.5 million people, 56% of them children, are trapped inside Gaza — an area about 6 miles wide and 27 miles long — by the Israeli blockade.
With the UN reporting that 750,00 Gazans are without access to water and 1 million do not have electricity, how are Gazans supposed to endure the daily assault?
Meanwhile, armed Palestinian groups, including Hamas, continue bombarding Israel with indiscriminate rocket fire, firing over a dozen rockets Thursday.
What can be done to prevent Hamas from firing at civilians?
What are the responsibilities of the warring parties in this conflict?
How can refugees be protected?
Ask these and other questions today for our online chat on Monday, January 12th, at 12 noon EST.
Our researcher Donatella Rovera will answer your questions directly from southern Israel where she is currently stationed. Donatella is pushing to enter Gaza, monitoring the crisis from southern Israel, and conducting first-hand interviews with affected individuals and organizations.
Donatella’s research will supplement the recent report AI co-authored in March 2008, The Gaza Strip: A Humanitarian Implosion. That research exposed the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza: over 80% live in absolute poverty, unemployment is close to 40%, households spend over 60% on food and power outages keep hospitals from treating the critically ill.
As the violence escalates, AI continues to demand the following:
- All parties to the conflict – i.e. Israel and Palestinian armed groups such as Hamas – should cease attacks on civilians.
- The humanitarian crisis in Gaza should be ameliorated. A three hour daily truce is not enough.
- The United States should cease military transfers to Israel and should investigate whether any U.S. weapons were used in attacks against civilians.
- The United States should condemn all sides with equal vigor – including Israel for its vastly disproportionate response.
Globally, Amnesty International sections are pressuring their individual stakeholders. As an Amnesty supporter in the U.S. section, we’re asking you to urge Secretary Rice to protect civilians and end all unlawful attacks.
Next week our advocacy strategy will enter phase two. Stay tuned as we roll out the next part of our campaign to make sure we protect civilians and ameliorate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
For daily updates on Gaza, visit our blog, Human Rights Now where our advocacy team and country specialists are monitoring and responding to the crisis.
2 comments ↓
Distressing situation in Gaza. I heard Condalezza Rice yesterday on TV blaming everything on Hamas. She failed to mention that prior to the uproar that Israel had cut off water, electricity, fuel, food, and was daily bombing Gaza. That began six weeks before this latest foray into Gaza. And don’t forget that the day before the rocket barrages Israeli forces went into Gaza and killed six Palestinianins. Haven’t seen a whole lot of that on TV.
And the United States continues to support the carnage. And of course American weapons and money is being used in the attack on Gaza.
There needs to be a peace in that land. But I don’t think there will be until either every Israeli is dead or every Palestinian is dead.
There is a hugh debt building against Israel and the United States in this immoral situation that has been going on for 60 years. Someday the oppressed might be strong enough to come calling for payment. What will we do then?
Doesn’t speak well for the morality of the mighty. Remember only the strong can offer a moral peace.
While i do not like, or encourage the kind of force Isreal is using. yet seeing that centuries ago due to their disobedience to their God, they are and have been in the mess they are in….spiritually,moraly, as well as politcally. yet the leaders of hamas haven’t come out and begged for peace by dragging the offenders who have been shooting rockets at Isreal hmmm doesn’t tht seem strange ? Not really seeing that the average resident there has close family or neighbor ties to those offenders…so if they do yurn the offenders in they get killed…they say and do nothing …they get killed…Now that is a terrible humanitarian problem, here you can’t out of common sence and decency tuen in people whom you live with for doing you and your family wrong , and yet we of the west stand here pontificate about the poor peoples …and oh so dastardly ( place the name of your favorite nation here) are hurting and causing the peoples to suffer…gee where is all the sabre rattling against the bogus way the leaders of hamas are doing ? Or are we in the name of free speech only wanting to see just one side side..instead of both…hmm free 7 open thinking…it’s not what it was in the 1960’s is it kiddies ???
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