Israel has said it is intensifying attacks on northern Gaza and warned that anyone who stayed risked being considered as “an accomplice in a terrorist organisation”, as airstrikes continued on Sunday in the south, where civilians had fled hoping to survive the war.

A second trickle of aid was allowed into Gaza from Egypt on Sunday, but the head of the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that the humanitarian situation was now catastrophic for the 2.3 million people trapped inside the territory.

 

Speaking on ABC’s This Week programme, the WFP chief, Cindy McCain, described the amount of aid delivered into Gaza so far as a “drop”. “We need – we need secure and sustainable access in there ... This is a catastrophe happening and we just simply have to get these trucks in.”

 

Up to 19 aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Sunday but there was a brief panic at the crossing when witnesses said a blast was heard and that ambulances could be heard deploying from the Egyptian side.

Later, the Israeli military said one of its tanks accidentally hit an Egyptian post near the border. The military expressed sorrow for the incident but gave no further details. Several Egyptian border guards sustained minor injuries, the Egyptian army spokesperson said in a statement.

Israel is preparing for a ground invasion that is likely to deepen civilian suffering.

People are going hungry and drinking dirty water, and some doctors have been reduced to using vinegar as anaesthetic and operating with sewing needles, the Associated Press reported.

 

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, convened his cabinet late on Saturday, reportedly to discuss sending troops over the frontier. There has been pressure for a delay in military action from some Israeli allies with citizens held in Gaza and from the relatives of some hostages.

They fear that once Hamas and Israeli troops start fighting face to face, negotiations for the release of hostages will collapse. The release of two Americans on Friday raised hopes that others might be able to return home. The Israeli military has raised its estimate of the number of people held by Hamas to 212.

 

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Will Hanas fight like soldiers, or will these cowardly terrorists keep hiding among the Palestine

population?  It would be nice to see all the hostages released, then the Isreal military can go after the

terrorists strongholds and tunnels etc.

15 hours ago, Stargeezr said:

Will Hanas fight like soldiers, or will these cowardly terrorists keep hiding among the Palestine

population?  It would be nice to see all the hostages released, then the Isreal military can go after the

terrorists strongholds and tunnels etc.

Hamas are not stupid - would you go out to fight Jets, Tanks and artillery with just an AK47 and home made rockets? They would get slaughtered. It is called Asymmetric warfare - you use what you have in whatever way is effective, e.g. guerrilla warfare. When you are fighting a guerilla war, hard to keep to the Geneva convention.

 

Think of the French resistance - they didn't fight pitched battles with the Germans, but relied on bombs and ambushes - and i doubt they took prisoners. And, they hid in the French population, who often suffered from German reprisals.

Has there ever not been a time in the history of the WFP when the "WFP says more aid urgently needed"