JERUSALEM (AFP) — Civilians in Gaza are bearing the brunt of the violence in the Gaza Strip, where people wounded in fighting are dying because ambulances cannot reach them, humanitarian agencies said on Monday.
As troops battled militants in Gaza's main city for the first time since Israel unleashed its offensive against the Islamist Hamas movement on December 27, the agencies painted a grim picture of the suffering in the impoverished territory.
"Wounded people have died while waiting for Palestinian Red Crescent ambulances," ICRC spokeswoman Dorothea Krimitsas said in Geneva.
The United Nations noted that many of the recent fatalities have been women and children, adding that "the population of Gaza (is) bearing the brunt of the violence.
In Amman, Jordan's Queen Rania said civilian deaths were not acceptable.
"Gaza's children, the dead and the barely living, their mothers, their fathers are not acceptable collateral damage, their lives do matter and their loss does count," said the queen, herself of Palestinian origin.
Some 555 Palestinians have been killed since Israel unleashed its massive offensive. At least a dozen children were among the 50 people killed on Monday, medics said.
"Civilian casualties and destruction in Gaza are on an unprecedented scale," said Malcolm Smart of human rights watchdog Amnesty International amid mounting international calls for a truce to deliver aid to those in need.
"We need a humanitarian truce of several days. It's in everybody's interest," visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in Jerusalem.
Israel insists it is doing its best to avoid civilian casualties and avert a humanitarian crisis as it targets Hamas officials and installations.
But Amnesty quoted a resident as saying: "We are not safe even in our homes. We have nothing to do with Hamas -- I've been detained and harassed by Hamas -- but the Israeli bombardments are indiscriminate. No one is safe," she said.
The United Nations said it has become increasing difficult for humanitarian staff to distribute aid or reach casualties.
"More than a million Gazans still have no electricity or water, and thousands of people have fled their homes for safe shelter," it said in an update of the situation.
It said essential infrastructure has been destroyed, including electricity, water, waste water, communications and roads, while hospitals can't provide adequate intensive care to the high number of casualties.
"Although a large quantity of medicines has been supplied by various donors and organisations, humanitarian organisations are now receiving urgent requests for strong pain killers as well as for body bags and bed sheets used for wrapping the dead.
"There is also an urgent need for more neuro-vascular, orthopaedic and open heart surgeons," the United Nations said.
The CARE agency warned that the food situation was becoming critical.
"People do not have money to buy food, and what little food there is in the markets is running out," said Yazdan El-Amawi, CARE's emergency team leader in Gaza.
"Even if you have money, people are terrified to leave their homes to buy food because of the bombings. If you are outside, you might be mistaken as a target," he said.
"People are rationing what they eat," said El-Amawi. "I don't know how much longer people can hold out. They are trying to make things last but in a week or less, if the situation continues, if we don't get more food and emergency supplies, people will collapse."
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