Israeli assault, aid crisis loom over Gaza

JABALYA REFUGEE CAMP, Gaza Strip, July 2 (Reuters) Asked when he last ate lamb or chicken, Youssef Metwale throws his head back and laughs.

''Oh, that used to happen, even four times a week,'' said the jovial metal worker, who strips copper wire from old fridges and freezers and sells it for a living.

''But it hasn't happened for weeks now, maybe months. We just eat hummus and bread and hopefully some vegetables.'' What has been described by international aid agencies as a looming humanitarian crisis is slowly gaining a grip on Gaza, home to around 1.4 million Palestinians and one of the most densely populated pieces of land in the world.

And with the imminent threat of a full-scale Israeli assault on the territory, a response to the kidnapping of an Israel soldier by Palestinian militants six days ago, conditions could be about to get much worse.

One of the toughest places is Jabalya, a refugee camp outside Gaza City where Youssef and his brother Mahmoud run their small operation, which now brings in around 7 dollars a day, down from as much as 50 dollars a day just six months ago.

It may not be a humanitarian crisis in the same sense as in Sudan, but for a population that once had a per capita disposable income of more than 2,000 dollars a year and a steadily growing economy, it is devastating nonetheless.

Israeli warplanes have destroyed bridges, knocked out Gaza's main power plant and bombed government buildings. Ear-splitting sonic booms shatter the air every few hours.

''They say they don't want to harm innocent civilians, but they have destroyed bridges and the power station and now there is no power, water or medicine,'' said Mohammed Faris, a businessman who owns a health and beauty clinic in Gaza.

''That affects 1.4 million people and they are going mad.'' ''VICIOUS CYCLE'' The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have expressed their concern at the escalating violence and called on Israel on Friday to allow urgent medical and food supplies into the coastal strip.

The World Food Programme, which helps feed around 600,000 people in the West Bank and Gaza, says many Palestinians are now living on just one meal a day, and doctors say there has a been a rise in anaemia and kidney problems due to the poor nutrition.

''We are not talking about a crisis in African terms but we are still talking about a crisis,'' Karen Koning AbuZayd, the head of the UN's relief and works agency, told Reuters.

''Gaza is an urban environment but urban life is not functioning.

Water is not getting to people in apartment buildings and there is very little power.

''The situation can better be compared to Sarajevo, although it's not that sort of siege,'' she said.

Israel has said it could open the main crossing into Gaza as soon as Sunday to allow essential goods in.

An Israeli spokesman said the army would continue to press its military operation to secure the release of the soldier.

With negotiations to secure Gilad Shalit's release seemingly at an impasse, the threat of a fullscale Israeli incursion into Gaza has risen, and with it the concerns of humanitarian groups.

''We are very worried about the situation in the Gaza Strip,'' Jan Egeland, the UN's top relief coordinator, said on Friday.

''Civilians are caught in the middle of a vicious cycle of action and reaction, exemplifying how disproportionately they pay the price.'' REUTERS SRS KN0854