UN chief leads protests as Israel hits Gaza hospitals
PARIS (AFP) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon led international protests on Thursday describing the Palestinian death toll as "unbearable" as Israeli air strikes set hospitals, media and UN buildings ablaze.
"I have conveyed my strong protest and outrage and demanded a full explanation from the defence minister and foreign minister," Ban told reporters in Tel Aviv after the strike on a UN compound in Gaza.
The UN suspended its operations in Gaza after Israeli shells smashed into its compound, setting fire to warehouses holding badly-needed aid.
Other strikes set a hospital wing on fire and wounded two cameramen in a building housing international and Arab media outlets.
"The number of casualties has reached an unbearable point," said Ban, who is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert later Thursday.
Since Israel launched its offensive on December 27, at least 1,070 people have been killed, including at least 355 children, 100 women, 117 elderly men and 12 medics, say Gaza medics. Another 5,000 people have been wounded.
France also denounced the latest attacks.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the bombings this morning by the Israeli army of several hospitals and a building housing international media in Gaza city," said French foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.
Chevallier also condemned the attack on the UN building, adding.
"Israel must abstain from all action that is contrary to international law, he said, adding that France was again appealing for an immediate ceasefire "to spare the civilian population."
In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at the humanitarian situation in Gaza. She stressed the need to stop arms smuggling into the Gaza strip.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also condemned the violence on both sides.
"Today's attack on the UN headquarters in Gaza is indefensible," he said. "The intensification of Israeli military action, and continued Hamas rocket attacks, reinforce the urgency of our call for an immediate ceasefire."
Greece strongly protested to Israel after its navy turned back a boat chartered by Greek activists to take medical aid to the Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said.
Karin Pally, a spokeswoman with the Free Gaza Movement, which chartered the boat, said it had turned back after Israeli naval vessels surrounded them while still in international waters and threatened to open fire on them.
The boat was carrying several tonnes of medical supplies.
In the French city of Strasbourg, the European Parliament denounced the Israeli blockade preventing aid from arriving in Gaza.
"The embargo on the Gaza Strip represents collective punishment in contravention of international humanitarian law," deputies agreed in a parliamentary resolution adopted with no dissenting hands.
The parliament expressed "its shock at the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza" and "strongly deplores, in particular, the fact that civilian and UN targets have been hit during the (Israeli) attacks."
It called for an immediate ceasefire on both sides.
EU Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Louis Michel said: "It is unacceptable that the UN headquarters in Gaza has been struck by Israeli artillery fire."
The statement added: "I am deeply shocked and dismayed to learn of this incident."
In Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, announced he would accompany an aid convoy into Gaza on Monday. He too called for a ceasefire.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused some Arab and Islamic states of complicity in what he described as the "genocide" being carried out by the Israelis against Palestinians in Gaza.
"Unfortunately, some states in the Arab and Islamic region tolerate or support this rare genocide with silence or a smile of satisfaction," Ahmadinejad said in a letter to Saudi King Abdullah.
Ahmadinejad urged the king to "break the silence over this obvious atrocity and killing of your own children," Ahmadinejad said in the letter, which was posted on his website.
A spokesman says that the Gaza headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has been hit by shells containing white phosphorus. 

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, expressed "strong protest and outrage" to the Israeli Government over the attack. "The number of casualties has reached an unbearable point," said Ban.

Ehud Olmert responded by saying that there were Palestinian fighters in the compound, launching mortars at Israeli troops.

"We do not want such incidents to take place and I am sorry for it but I don’t know if you know, but Hamas fired from the UNRWA site. This is a sad incident and I apologise for it," Olmert said.

A previous accusation was made against the UN after another UN building housing refugees was hit by Israeli tank shells a week ago.  According to UNRWA official Christopher Gunness, the accusation was later retracted by the Israeli government.

Ehud Barak, the Israeli Defence Minister, said it was "a grave mistake".

Along with UNRWA headquarters, a Palestinian hospital was set ablaze, and a media headquarters housing the Reuters news agency and other Palestinian reporters was also hit wounding two cameramen.  Around 500 people were sheltering in the Al-Quds hospital when it was bombed by Israel and hospital officials say they were hit with white phosphorus, a substance which sparks fires which cannot be put out by water and which causes serious burns and respiratory problems to anyone who comes in contact with it.

Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for UNRWA, said fires were still raging hours after the attack and "tens of millions of dollars worth of aid" had been destroyed.  

Christopher Gunness issued a statement on the attacks saying, "There have been three hits on the UNRWA headquarters, the UNRWA compound in Gaza, including, I’m told by UNRWA head John Ging, white phosphorus. Three of our staff members have been injured. The workshop in our compound is in flames, and nearby are loaded fuel tankers. So the situation is extremely dangerous and extremely serious. We have been on the phone to the Israeli authorities, asking them to call off their fire from around the compound of a neutral international organization. We have not had the answer we want."  UNRWA reports that the fire at the compound will destroy tons of medical and food aid.  

United Nations Children's Fund joined the Red Cross in speaking out against the violence today, saying the deaths of children in Gaza were unacceptable.