10/01/2009

Israel is pushing ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip

after branding a

UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate

ceasefire "unworkable".

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, rejected the truce call
following a

security cabinet meeting on Friday.

Referring to continued rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, Olmert
said: "The

firing of rockets this morning only goes to show that the UN

decision is

unworkable and will not be adhered to by the murderous

Palestinian

organisations."
A series of Israeli air raids and ground attacks on Friday killed
dozens of

Palestinians in northern Gaza, medical sources said.

Palestinian doctors said tanks shelled a house in Beit Lahiya in

the north of

the Strip, killing six Gazans from the same family.

The Israeli air force launched attacks overnight against what

an army

spokesman described as 50 targets, including launching pads

for rockets fired

from Gaza into Israel.

The Israeli army said six rockets were also fired into southern
Israel on

Friday morning, injuring one person and four rockets hit

Beersheba, a town
 Civilian casualties

At least 803 Palestinians have been killed and 3,300 injured since the

Israeli offensive began on December 27.

More than 300 Palestinian children and nearly 100 women are among the
dead,

according to the UN.

Thirteen Israelis, including three civilians, have been killed during the

same period.

The UN said on Friday that a further 30 Palestinians were killed in Gaza on

January 4 after the Israeli army moved dozens of civilians to a building

which troops later shelled.

A special report by the UN's Office for the Coordinator of Humanitarian

Affairs (OCHA) said 110 Gazans were transferred to the house and that the

Israeli army were investigating the incident.

 The continuing hostilities will come as a disappointment for those
within the

international community who have been pushing for a ceasefire since

the

conflict began.

Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza, said despite the

talk of

peace at the United Nations in New York, there was "certainly no

peace here

in the Gaza Strip".

She said explosions and heavy artillery fire could be continuously

heard

overnight and into Friday.

The UN resolution, which was backed by 14 of the 15-member body

with only the
 It also said border crossings into Gaza should be re-opened and
measures put

in place to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip

Strip.

The resolution underlined there should be "unimpeded provision" and

distribution of aid into the territory, where Gazans have been starved
of

fuel, food and medical supplies for months following Israel’s crippling

blockade.
 UN aid suspension

Meanwhile, the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (Unwra) has
been forced

to suspend humanitarian activities in the Strip after coming under fire

from

Israeli forces.

On Thursday, a contract worker was killed when a Unwra aid convoy

came under

Israeli fire during a three-hour armistice agreed by the Israelis in

order to

deliver essential supplies to Gaza residents.

Israel says it is investigating the incident.

The UN says it cannot resume aid work in the territory because it is

unable