Palestinian deaths rise amid fear of worse to come
Nidal al-Mughrabi/Reuters
Friday August 11, 2006
The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1842279,00.html

Last month was the deadliest in the Gaza Strip for
nearly two years, a Palestinian research group said
yesterday, as Israel's six-week offensive against
militants in the territory led to a surge in killings.
The Palestinian Monitoring Group said 151 people were
killed in the strip in July, the highest total since
October 2004, when 166 people died. The majority of
those killed were civilians.

"The spiralling civilian casualties caused by Israeli
actions throughout the region serve to strengthen
extremists, weaken peace advocates and exacerbate the
conflict," said the chief Palestinian negotiator, Saeb
Erekat, commenting on the findings.

From late June, when Israel launched its offensive,
until August 8, at least 170 Palestinians were killed,
of whom 138 were civilians and a quarter children, the
monitoring group said. Other reports have put the
death toll at 200.

When the offensive was launched, Israeli warplanes
bombed and partly destroyed Gaza's only power plant
and also hit several bridges. The flow of fuel, food
and other essential supplies was also repeatedly
interrupted. The United Nations says the densely
populated territory is now facing some of the worst
humanitarian conditions in years.

In a report this week the UN said more than 70% of the
1.4 million population was reliant on emergency
assistance to meet food needs and the price of
essential goods, such as flour and sugar, had risen by
between 15% and 33% this year. Waste treatment in the
northern strip has reached a "critical point",
threatening to flood populated areas with sewage and
spread infection.
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