U.N. Suspends Food Aid Into Gaza

[spanone]

JERUSALEM — The United Nations suspended its food aid deliveries into Gaza on Thursday after one of its contract drivers was killed during an Israeli attack on a delivery convoy at a border crossing, the United Nations said.

The suspension by the United Nations came after rockets were fired from Lebanon on Thursday, landing in northern Israel and raising concerns they could represent a broadening of the conflict. However, both the Israeli and Lebanese governments played down their significance as international efforts to end the 13-day war in the Gaza Strip continued with the arrival of Israeli negotiators in Cairo.

In signs of mounting diplomatic pressure on Israel, the United Nations Security Council appeared close to a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire by both sides and could vote on the resolution as early as Thursday, according to Arab diplomats. The break-through was reached after a delegation of high-ranking Arab ministers overcame the reluctance of the United States, Britain and France in calling for the cease-fire, the diplomats said.

In Cairo, egyptian officials said the Israeli officials were meeting with the head of Egyptian military intelligence, Omar Suleiman, to explore a proposal devised by Egypt and France as what officials in Paris called a road map to a cease-fire. There was no immediate word on the outcome of the talks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/world/middleeast/09mideast.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

[K Gardner]

1. Good lord, let's starve them too. Sounds like the Israeli attack was, well, deliberate. Appalling.