BBC: Palestinian deaths in the Gaza Strip have passed 1,000 . . .
Nearly a third of the dead are reported to be children and nearly 5,000 people have been injured. . . .
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said 1,010 people have died in the conflict which started 19 days ago.
More than 300 of the dead are said to be children and about 4,700 people in Gaza have been injured.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed, including three civilians and one soldier from rockets fired from Gaza and nine soldiers killed in fighting in Gaza.
It is impossible to independently confirm casualty figures as Israel has refused to allow international journalists to enter Gaza.
Reuters: The number of Palestinians killed in a 19-day-old Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip reached at least 1,000 on Wednesday, including hundreds of civilians, officials in the Hamas-run Health Ministry in the enclave said.
The figures, in common with previous counts, are subject to the difficulties of counting and verification in the chaos of the war. Israeli officials have given no firm casualty toll for Palestinians but say troops have killed hundreds of militants.
Gaza: ICRC president demands greater respect for civilians and humanitarian workers
During a visit to the Gaza Strip today, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, urged the fighting parties to spare civilians and let humanitarian workers do their work. "Both parties must ensure that all victims are cared for rapidly, at all times of day. In particular, the wounded must be evacuated and receive treatment," said Mr Kellenberger. "Injured people cannot wait for days, or even for hours, before being treated. The work of medical personnel must be respected - and this is not negotiable."
The visit comes at a time of intensified fighting and deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. Civilians trapped in combat zones are particularly affected. Hospitals are being overwhelmed by a steady influx of casualties, including more and more women and children.
"What I saw today was shocking," said Mr Kellenberger. "It is unacceptable to see so many wounded people. Their lives must be spared and the security of those who care for them guaranteed." The ICRC president visited Shifa Hospital, where he met patients in the intensive care unit, an ICRC surgical team and other medical personnel.
Mr Kellenberger insisted that the ICRC will continue to do everything it can to help medical personnel and Palestine Red Crescent Society aid workers carry out their duties. Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams are putting their lives at risk every day to save the lives of others.
Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) faces major problems in obtaining access to the wounded. The security conditions still prevent medical teams and humanitarian aid workers from providing aid to a population that has nowhere to flee and finds itself trapped.
The lull in fighting is not helping humanitarian aid workers do their job or patients to reach hospitals. It affects only Gaza City, not the urban areas on the outskirts. Our post-operative care clinic in Gaza City is open every day, but given the risks, very few patients manage to get there.
MSF's Palestinian medical team continues to provide care in the immediate area of their place of residence, but these activities are also very limited in comparison to the enormous needs.
ACT International Much-needed aid reaches Gazans JERUSALEM, 14 January 2009
An initial three truckloads of ACT-supported food, milk and medical supplies have now reached Gazans in desperate need of assistance. Medical supplies have replenished scarce stocks at the Ah Ahli Arab Hospital and high-protein biscuits are being distributed to highly vulnerable children and nursing mothers who have sought refuge in UN schools and shelters. Dr. Suhaila Tarazi at the Al Ahli hospital says the deliveries will help a lot of people; especially kids and breast feeding mothers, they have had nothing. The medical supplies will also help numerous injured people with their recovery.
Water crisis
ACT members on the ground also report an increasingly serious water and sanitation situation in Gaza. With the electricity only available for a maximum of four hours per day, the water crisis continues to build up with households either suffering from shortages or using unfiltered water. Some reports indicate that the Israeli army has denied requests, made by non-governmental and UN organizations, to allow the repair of damaged infrastructure or the distribution of diesel fuel to water pumps.
No outdoor movements
In light of the continued restrictions on movement, medical services are still on hold at clinics run by the Middle East Council of Churches' Department of Service to Palestinians Refugees (DSPR). Both the medical teams and the patients are unable to transport themselves to the clinics. However, medical teams are standing by that upon the declaration of a ceasefire, medical assistance could begin immediately at two clinics. A third DSPR clinic was destroyed by an Israeli air strike earlier in the week.
Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, has broken off ties with Israel in protest against its war in Gaza, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead.
Morales said on Wednesday that he would seek to get top Israeli officials, including Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, charged with "genocide" in the International Criminal Court.
The Bolivian president also dismissed the United Nations and its "Insecurity Council" for its "lukewarm" response to the crisis and said the general assembly should hold an emergency session to condemn the invasion. . . .
He also said that Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, should be stripped of
his Nobel Peace Prize for failing to stop the invasion.
Palestinian 'holocaust'
Morales's move follows the decision by his ally Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, to expel Israel's ambassador in the country because of the offensive, calling it a "holocaust".
Robert Fisk, a journalist and Middle East expert, said neither the current Gaza war nor the broader 60-year regional conflict would end without resolving the Palestinian issue.
"Unless we deal with... [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war"
Robert Fisk, journalist and Middle East expert
"Why are they [Palestinians] dispossessed? Why are settlements - colonies for Jews and Jews only - being built on Arab land illegally? And still it continues," he told Al Jazeera.
"Unless we deal with this [Palestinian refugees], there will not be an end to this war. There might be a ceasefire in Gaza, a ceasefire in the West Bank, but there will not be an end to the war. That is the problem."
Earlier this week, the United Nations Security Council agreed a binding resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Strip.
However, both Israel and Hamas have ignored it and continued fighting.
Fisk said that Israel will be able to flout the UN ceasefire demand as long as the US - the only country to abstain from the 15-member security council vote on the resolution - continues to back Israel.
"It's quite clear from Hillary Clinton [incoming US secretary of state] most recent comments that it [the US backing of Israel] will continue under Barack Obama.
"I see no change, I see no hope at all in the future," Fisk said.
Free Gaza: We want to break the siege of Gaza. We want to raise international awareness about the prison-like closure of the Gaza Strip and pressure the international community to review its sanctions policy and end its support for continued Israeli occupation. . . . On August 23, 2008, we broke the siege of Gaza by sea for the first time and on October 29 for the second time. We want to repeat the action and establish a permanent sea lane between Cyprus and Gaza.
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