Gaza Update: On 20th Day of Crisis, Situation in Gaza Increasingly Dire

Since UUSC opened its Gaza Humanitarian Relief Fund on January 8, 2009, requesting constituents to take action for an immediate ceasefire, the situation in the Gaza Strip has become increasingly dire, going into the 20th day of the Israeli military campaign.

People inside Gaza can not get out to a safe haven, and adequate aid and relief can not get in. There are now over 1,000 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead, and 4,560 Palestinians and 250 Israelis wounded.

We deplore the fact that rockets have now been fired twice into Israel from Lebanon, which endangers lives and raises the concerns that the conflict will spread across borders.

On January 12, 2009, the U.N. Human Rights Council adopted a resolution condemning Israel's offensive and accusing it of "grave human rights violations" against the Palestinians.

• Civilians inside Gaza lack adequate water, electricity, medical care, food, and shelter. The 18-month blockade on Gaza by Israel weakened Gaza's infrastructure, particularly its water, electricity, and sewage systems, which are now breaking down.
• Only half of the hospitals in Gaza are operating. They are in desperate need of supplies, working on emergency generators.
• People are fleeing from one area in Gaza to another to escape the bombing. There are now approximately 40,000 people crowded into 41 U.N. shelters, one of which was hit by a mortar last week. Today, January 15, Israel shelled the U.N. Gaza city headquarters, which held food and humanitarian aid being prepared for distribution.
• Some critically needed aid is getting in to Gaza during the daily, three-hour ceasefire. But this is woefully inadequate, and the ceasefire has been violated several times.
• More than one million people continue to rely on humanitarian food assistance for survival.

UUSC has identified two channels for delivering emergency aid to Gaza. UUSC is also in discussion with sister agencies about establishing partnerships with grassroots groups in Gaza once a ceasefire is established.

Discuss this interfaith statement on the crisis in your congregation, and use it as a way to foster interfaith dialogue in your community.

For more information, please read UUSC's initial statement regarding violence in Gaza.