By DIAA HADID
Associated Press Writer
¶ RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ More than 200 Palestinians who fled their homes because of an Israeli offensive in southern Gaza sought shelter in a vacant U.N. school Saturday.
¶ In a sign of the tensions, some of the displaced got into an argument over winning a spot at the shelter and gunfire erupted. Police said three officers were wounded in the melee.
¶ "Living conditions are at a new low. It's a struggle to survive," said John Ging, the new head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.
¶ Ging warned that Israel's military campaign, prompted by the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier two weeks ago, has lead to a humanitarian crisis. "Water, food, electricity, sanitation; these are the problems. The situation doesn't get more basic than that," he said.
¶ On Saturday, UNRWA oversaw the transfer of 235 people _ or 36 families _ who were moved from Shouka, a largely Bedouin area close to Gaza International Airport, to an elementary school in the southern town of Rafah.
¶ Arriving with few possessions, the Bedouins crowded around a U.N. truck in the school's courtyard to receive mattresses. One group of men made tea in the courtyard, using a small gas canister.
¶ "We fled our home near the airport because of tank fire and air fire. At one stage we were told by Israelis over a loudspeaker at night to leave our homes for our own safety," said Jihad Abu Zakkar, 45, the father of six children.
¶ He said his children screamed through the night, and the family left home in the morning under a white flag.
¶ Umm Issam, 50, said her family of seven left home every night in the past week to sleep under a tree, further away from the fighting. Issam said she decided to seek U.N. help when she realized her husband, who is ill, could no longer walk such distances each night.
¶ The U.N. gave other Bedouin families who have livestock 18 tents to set up nearby so they could watch their cattle and sheep.
¶ Israel launched its military offensive two weeks ago, after Hamas-allied militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Southern Gaza's long-closed airport was one of the first positions Israeli forces and tanks occupied. Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt have been largely closed during the crisis.
¶ The closure and the destruction of Gaza's only power station by the Israeli air force have led to a humanitarian crisis in the area, said Ging, the UNRWA chief.
¶ He urged Israel to open supply routes at crossings such as Karni in southern Gaza, where he said 235 containers of U.N. food were waiting to cross.
¶ He said the border closure also was preventing the United Nations from shipping its empty containers out of Gaza to be refilled and returned.
¶ The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
Associated Press Writer
¶ RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) _ More than 200 Palestinians who fled their homes because of an Israeli offensive in southern Gaza sought shelter in a vacant U.N. school Saturday.
¶ In a sign of the tensions, some of the displaced got into an argument over winning a spot at the shelter and gunfire erupted. Police said three officers were wounded in the melee.
¶ "Living conditions are at a new low. It's a struggle to survive," said John Ging, the new head of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.
¶ Ging warned that Israel's military campaign, prompted by the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier two weeks ago, has lead to a humanitarian crisis. "Water, food, electricity, sanitation; these are the problems. The situation doesn't get more basic than that," he said.
¶ On Saturday, UNRWA oversaw the transfer of 235 people _ or 36 families _ who were moved from Shouka, a largely Bedouin area close to Gaza International Airport, to an elementary school in the southern town of Rafah.
¶ Arriving with few possessions, the Bedouins crowded around a U.N. truck in the school's courtyard to receive mattresses. One group of men made tea in the courtyard, using a small gas canister.
¶ "We fled our home near the airport because of tank fire and air fire. At one stage we were told by Israelis over a loudspeaker at night to leave our homes for our own safety," said Jihad Abu Zakkar, 45, the father of six children.
¶ He said his children screamed through the night, and the family left home in the morning under a white flag.
¶ Umm Issam, 50, said her family of seven left home every night in the past week to sleep under a tree, further away from the fighting. Issam said she decided to seek U.N. help when she realized her husband, who is ill, could no longer walk such distances each night.
¶ The U.N. gave other Bedouin families who have livestock 18 tents to set up nearby so they could watch their cattle and sheep.
¶ Israel launched its military offensive two weeks ago, after Hamas-allied militants kidnapped an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid. Southern Gaza's long-closed airport was one of the first positions Israeli forces and tanks occupied. Gaza's borders with Israel and Egypt have been largely closed during the crisis.
¶ The closure and the destruction of Gaza's only power station by the Israeli air force have led to a humanitarian crisis in the area, said Ging, the UNRWA chief.
¶ He urged Israel to open supply routes at crossings such as Karni in southern Gaza, where he said 235 containers of U.N. food were waiting to cross.
¶ He said the border closure also was preventing the United Nations from shipping its empty containers out of Gaza to be refilled and returned.
¶ The Israeli military had no immediate comment.
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