Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2026 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Uncategorized

UN Halts Relief Work in Gaza; Driver Killed by Israeli Fire; Starvation Looms for Civilians

Juan Cole 01/08/2009

XFacebookRedditBlueskyEmail

The UN is halting its relief works in Gaza, after an Israeli tank fired on a UN truck, killing the driver:

‘ “The IDF knows all of our movements, and coordinates. Despite that we are still coming under attack,” says Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). “Until the [Israeli Defense Forces] can guarantee the safety and security of our staff, everything is suspended.”‘

It is hard not to suspect that the Israeli army doesn’t actually want the aid workers in Gaza (they have already excluded reporters) because of what the workers find when they look into the rubble of buildings the army has hit. AP writes:

‘ During a three-hour pause in the fighting to allow in food and fuel and let medics collect the dead, nearly three dozen bodies were found beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings in Gaza City. Many of the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red Cross said rescuers discovered young children too weak to stand who had stayed by their dead mothers. The aid group accused Israel of an “unacceptable” delay in allowing workers to reach the area.”

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has admitted that pictures of civilian deaths coming out of Gaza generate pressure on Israel for a cease-fire, which the government is resisting for as long as possible.

Half of Gazans are children, and half of Gazans depend on external food aid. Even with that aid, about 17% of Gazans are malnourished. If the UN doesn’t deliever food supplies, you are talking about vulnerable populations facing starvation.
/End.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor in the History Department at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Uncategorized

UN Halts Relief Work in Gaza; Driver Killed by Israeli Fire; Starvation Looms for Civilians

Juan Cole 01/08/2009

XFacebookRedditBlueskyEmail

The UN is halting its relief works in Gaza, after an Israeli tank fired on a UN truck, killing the driver:

‘ “The IDF knows all of our movements, and coordinates. Despite that we are still coming under attack,” says Chris Gunness, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). “Until the [Israeli Defense Forces] can guarantee the safety and security of our staff, everything is suspended.”‘

It is hard not to suspect that the Israeli army doesn’t actually want the aid workers in Gaza (they have already excluded reporters) because of what the workers find when they look into the rubble of buildings the army has hit. AP writes:

‘ During a three-hour pause in the fighting to allow in food and fuel and let medics collect the dead, nearly three dozen bodies were found beneath the rubble of bombed out buildings in Gaza City. Many of the dead were in the same neighborhood where the international Red Cross said rescuers discovered young children too weak to stand who had stayed by their dead mothers. The aid group accused Israel of an “unacceptable” delay in allowing workers to reach the area.”

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni has admitted that pictures of civilian deaths coming out of Gaza generate pressure on Israel for a cease-fire, which the government is resisting for as long as possible.

Half of Gazans are children, and half of Gazans depend on external food aid. Even with that aid, about 17% of Gazans are malnourished. If the UN doesn’t deliever food supplies, you are talking about vulnerable populations facing starvation.
/End.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Distinguished University Professor in the History Department at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

Primary Sidebar

Support Independent Journalism

Click here to donate via PayPal.

Personal checks should be made out to Juan Cole and sent to me at:

Juan Cole
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
USA
(Remember, make the checks out to “Juan Cole” or they can’t be cashed)

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter to have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.
Warning! Social media will not reliably deliver Informed Comment to you. They are shadowbanning news sites, especially if "controversial."
To see new IC posts, please sign up for our email Newsletter.

Social Media

Bluesky | Instagram

Popular

  • Why China is Defying Trump's Tariffs on Iran Trade
  • A Triple Entente? Türkiye interested in joining Saudi-Pakistan Nuclear Security Pact
  • Minneapolis is Healing the Wounds of Hatred by Leading with Love
  • Iran: Growing Evidence of Countrywide Massacres
  • Trump's $1.5 trillion Gamble: Will Endless Conflict win Midterm Votes?

Gaza Yet Stands


Juan Cole's New Ebook at Amazon. Click Here to Buy
__________________________

Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires



Click here to Buy Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam


Click here to Buy The Rubaiyat.
Donate to Informed Comment
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2026 All Rights Reserved