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World Jewish News
Israel launches three-hour-long 'humanitarian cease-fire'
07.01.2009
The IDF announced on Wednesday that the army would cease operations in Gaza for three hours in order to allow emergency aid into the Gaza Strip unmolested.
Israel had said late Tuesday that it had agreed to set up a "humanitarian corridor" to ship vital supplies to the people living in the Gaza Strip.
The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that the humanitarian corridor idea came from the UN Security Council, and that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert accepted it.
A statement early Wednesday said that the goal of the corridor was to "prevent a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip."
A defense official told the Jerusalem Post that the purpose of the corridor was both to allow civilians to leave their homes and get supplies from the warehouses of international aid organizations, and to offer time for repairs to infrastructure that had been damaged since the start of the operation.
The official warned, however, that should Hamas fire at Israeli forces during the three hours, the IDF would respond accordingly.
Israel insisted that it has allowed enough supplies into the territory during the past 11 days of conflict, but the UN countered that there was already a humanitarian crisis there because of shortages of food, fuel and medicine.
Источник: JPOST.COM
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