Israel still imposing curbs on Gaza aid

Israel is still imposing "unlawful" restrictions on humanitarian relief for Gaza, the UN human rights office said yesterday, despite assertions from Israel and others that barriers have eased.

The amount of aid now entering Gaza is disputed, with Israel and Washington saying aid flows have risen in recent days but UN agencies say it is still far below bare minimum levels.

"Israel continues to impose unlawful restrictions on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, and to carry out widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure," said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office, at a press briefing in Geneva, reiterating calls for unfettered access.

Israel, which denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza, has faced increased international pressure to let more supplies into the Gaza Strip since it hit an aid convoy on April 1, killing international relief workers.

"Those delivering or trying to access humanitarian assistance must never be attacked," added Shamdasani.

The UN children's agency (Unicef) called for an increase in medical evacuations from Gaza, saying less than half of applications had been successful.

"With at least 70 children injured every day, we need the number of medical evacuations to increase so children can access the care they urgently need," said Unicef's Tess Ingram at the same press briefing, describing cases of children she met who had endured gunshot wounds and amputations.

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"Their shattered bodies and fractured lives are a testament to the brutality being forced upon them."

Meanwhile, an Israeli air strike destroyed a mosque and nearby homes in the northern Gaza's Jabalia refugee camp with a large number of children and women wounded, while warplanes conducted air strikes on Rafah that killed four people.

Israeli forces continued to surround Beit Hanoon's al-Shawa school where hundreds of Palestinians were sheltering, Hamas officials in Gaza said.

The health ministry in Gaza said yesterday that at least 33,843 people have been killed in the territory during more than six months of Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory. The toll includes at least 46 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said.

The UN voiced grave concern yesterday over escalating violence in the West Bank, demanding that Israeli security forces "immediately" stop supporting settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied territory.

With the Gaza offensive raging, the United Nations rights office decried that Palestinians in the West Bank had been "subjected to waves of attacks by hundreds of Israeli settlers, often accompanied or supported by Israeli security forces (ISF)".

"The Israeli security forces must immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians," rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

"Israeli authorities must instead prevent further attacks, including by bringing those responsible to account," she said.