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OPT: Gaza air strikes condemned

Christian Aid condemns the recent escalation of violence in Gaza, which has left 112 Palestinians, two Israeli soldiers and an Israeli civilian dead, and partly destroyed the medical facilities of our partner the Palestinian Medical Relief Committee (PMRS).

Partner's premises damaged

The past five days have witnessed an increasing number of attacks from both Israel and Gaza, including an Israeli air strike that hit the Gaza head office of Christian Aid partner PMRS. It destroyed an ambulance, a loan centre and a pharmacy run by the organisation, and killed a five-month-old baby in a neighbouring building.

PRMS is one of the largest non-governmental health service providers in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the attack means it will now have to scale back its work in the region.

Dr Abdel Hadi Abu Khussa, director of PMRS in Gaza, explained that this is 'a terrible blow to PMRS activities and will increase the suffering of the people of Gaza'.

The Israeli air strike destroyed one of PMRS's ambulances.

Medical facilities in Gaza are already few and far between because of the Israeli blockade. People have suffered increasing air strikes over the last few weeks, leading up to the current crisis.

One and a half million Gazans survive on a drip feed of humanitarian aid, as they are effectively imprisoned by the Israeli blockade. Eighty per cent of the population live below the poverty line.

Before the air strike, PMRS maintained four primary healthcare centres, two ambulances and two mobile clinics, and ran a centre to help adults and children with disabilities. It also operated an emergency programme to support the needs of the people of Gaza, who have been under the Israeli blockade since January 2008.

The need for dialogue

Christian Aid condemns all use of violence. We believe all civilians, Israeli and Palestinian, must be protected under international law, as stipulated in the Geneva conventions.

We are deeply concerned that Israel's policy of blockading Gaza is counter-productive, and is failing to achieve Israel's stated goal of a cessation of Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza. This policy is therefore failing to protect Israeli citizens. Instead, the statistics show how rocket attacks have increased since the blockade began and Israeli attacks on Gaza increased.

By sealing off the Gaza Strip, cutting fuel and threatening to cut electricity, and continuing the policy of air strikes and ground offensives, Israel is retreating from its legal obligations as an occupying power. This illegal policy of collective punishment is only serving to deepen despair and frustration in Gaza. It does not provide security for either Israelis or Palestinians.

Events in Gaza have led to international calls for a halt to fighting. American administration of President George W. Bush said in a Whitehouse statement that 'the violence needs to stop and the talks need to resume'.

Dialogue is indeed the way forward, not violence. However, this must be part of an inclusive process that involves all parties, including Hamas, as non-engagement has been proven to bring only humanitarian disaster and increased anger and alienation among Palestinians, rather than increased Israeli security. All parties must take responsibility for a cessation of violence.

Christian Aid calls on the UK government, the wider international community, the Israeli government and the Palestinian leadership to pursue a new strategy of political dialogue, abandoning the counter-productive policy of non-engagement and violence in order to deal with the immediate humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and to overcome the political deadlock and facilitate a credible and effective peace process.