UN and ICRC urge Israel to let supplies into Gaza

GENEVA, June 30 (Reuters) The United Nations and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), concerned at escalating West Asia violence, today called on Israel to allow urgent medical and food supplies into Gaza.

Many Palestinian civilians -- confined by the closure of key crossing points and suffering from a clampdown on foreign aid -- are now living on ''just one meal a day'', according to the U.N.'s World Food Programme (WFP).

Israeli warplanes pounded Gaza today, setting ablaze the Interior Ministry office of the Hamas-led Palestinian government in a widening military effort to secure the release of a soldier captured last Sunday.

The international aid agencies said Israeli air strikes have knocked out water systems and a major power transformer, cutting vital electricity supplies to hospitals as well as families.

WFP spokesman Simon Pluess told a news briefing that the crisis had affected all aspects of Palestinian life, including access to food, health care, education and fuel.

''It is essential that all crossings remain open so that essential food aid shipments into Gaza may continue,'' he said.

HUMANITARIAN CONSEQUENCES Dorothea Krimitsas, ICRC spokeswoman, said the Geneva-based agency was negotiating with Israel to allow the passage of humanitarian aid, including essential medicines and medicial supplies for the Palestinian Red Crescent.

''We are concerned at the humanitarian consequences of the escalation of violence and closure of crossing points to Gaza, especially the Karni crossing,'' she said.

Karni is Gaza's main commercial crossing, through which virtually all trade between Israel and the impoverished coastal strip must pass.

No ICRC convoy is currently blocked at the closed crossing, but the neutral agency wants it opened in coming days when its supplies are ready for delivery, according to Krimitsas.

''Under international law, Israel has the obligation to allow humanitarian supplies into Gaza. It also has the duty to ensure that the vital supplies for the population, including food and medicine, are adequate,'' Krimitsas said.

Hospitals, hard-hit by the loss of electricity, have to use generators for power, consuming precious fuel, she said.

''We are worried about the fuel stocks. Palestinian authorities have estimated that they have enough for about 7 to 10 days,'' she added.

Some 70 per cent of Gaza's population of 1.4 million Palestinians are unable to meet their daily food needs without assistance, according to the WFP. It has increased the number of people it is feeding by 25 per cent to 600,000 this month.

''The population's coping strategies are being pushed to the limit with many families now living on just one meal a day,'' Pluess said. ''Many poor families can no longer afford meat, fish, dairy products or olive oil.'' REUTERS SHB KP1818