<ul class="summary-list"><li>Israeli airstrikes have displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, the UN said.</li><li>58,000 Palestinians are homeless or seeking refuge in UNRWA schools and shelters.</li><li>Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other Democrats <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-call-for-ceasefire-in-middle-east-biden-skirts-issue-2021-5">want the Biden administration</a> to call for a ceasefire.</li></ul>The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/under-secretary-general-humanitarian-affairs-and-emergency-3">said</a> 58,000 Palestinians have been internally displaced within Gaza due to a week of Israeli airstrikes aimed at the <keyword id="63799" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gaza-Strip">Gaza Strip</keyword>.OCHA has said many of those now-homeless Palestinians are seeking refuge in United Nations Relief and Works Agency for <keyword id="48892" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Palestine">Palestine</keyword> Refugees in the Near East schools, and called on <keyword id="6355882" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="israel">Israel</keyword> to open Gaza's crossings to allow humanitarian aid and basic resources into the area.Israel's weeklong bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 212 Palestinians, including at least 63 children, according to Gaza's health ministry. Twelve Israelis, including two children, have been killed by rockets launched by the militant group Hamas that controls Gaza.Israel says it is targeting Hamas militant leaders in the Gaza Strip. However, human rights groups have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/17/israeli-strikes-gaza-health-system-doctors-hospitals">said that</a> the bombing campaign has destroyed homes and hospitals. On Monday, Amnesty International said the Israeli attacks on residential buildings "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/israel-bombing-gaza-apartment-buildings-potential-war-crime-rights-groups-2021-5">may amount to war crimes</a>."Hamas, over recent weeks, has launched thousands of rockets into southern Israel, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/as-hamas-rockets-rain-on-israel-iron-dome-proves-it-can-withstand-the-barrages-11621180126">at least 90% of which have been intercepted</a> by its Iron Dome defense system.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled the Israeli Defense Forces will continue their current campaign in Gaza, despite urgent calls for a ceasefire.One Israeli airstrike on Sunday destroyed a building that housed the offices of media organizations like the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The Israeli military <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-has-received-more-information-israels-destruction-gaza-high-rise-blinken-2021-05-18/">claimed</a> there was a Hamas presence inside the building, and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken confirmed the US was given intel about the building but asked Israel for further information. The Associated Press <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-contradicts-israel-says-no-indication-hamas-used-gaza-building-2021-5">pushed back against the assertion</a>, asking Israel to offer evidence and saying staff, "narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life."The US President Joe Biden spoke in Dearborn, Michigan, on Tuesday, the hometown of Democratic, Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and offered prayers for her family in the West Bank.Tlaib and top Democrats in the US <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-call-for-ceasefire-in-middle-east-biden-skirts-issue-2021-5">have continued to pressure</a> the Biden administration to forcefully call for a ceasefire, as he finds himself at odds with many in his own party who are pushing for him to take a more forceful approach to end the conflict.

UN says at least 58,000 Palestinians have been internally displaced and made homeless in Gaza after a week of Israeli airstrikes

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">United Nation Relief and Works Agency via Getty ImagesIn this handout provided by the United Nation Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), Residents wait in line to receive food aid distributed in the Yarmouk refugee camp on January 31, 2014 in Damascus, Syria.</div></div></div><ul><li>The US announced it would suspend $65 million in aid to Palestinian refugee group UNRWA.</li><li>The State Department said it would still offer a voluntary package of $60 million to the UN aid group to sustain Palestinian schools and health services.</li><li>Israel has also previously recommended the US gradually reduce its aid to UNRWA.</li><li>To date, roughly 5 million Palestinian refugees across several countries benefit from UNRWA's assistance programs.</li></ul> The US announced it would suspend $65 million in aid to Palestinian refugee group UNRWA on Tuesday, and pledged to give about half of what they had previously offered the agency. According to UNRWA, the US provided more than $350 million in aid to the organization in 2017.The State Department said in its <a href="https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2018/01/277473.htm">daily briefing</a> that it would offer a voluntary package of $60 million to the UN aid group to sustain Palestinian schools and health services, and would help provide salaries to health and teaching professionals. The Department said an additional $65 million will be held for "future consideration," and added that it hoped to see some reforms in the operational structure of the organization. The spokeswoman said that the US has been the "largest single donor to UNRWA," and said the country is "the most generous nation on the globe." She urged other countries to step up and invest more aid into UNRWA's programs.The briefing did not get into the specifics of why the US decided to cut its aid, and would not confirm if it was related to President Donald Trump <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-threatens-to-cut-aid-to-palestinians-over-failed-peace-talks-2018-1">tweeting</a> earlier this month that the US pays the Palesitian organizations but gets "no appreciation or respect," and that the organizations are "no longer willing to talk peace."Trump's rhetoric <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-palestinians-aid-reaction/palestinians-condemn-trump-aid-halt-threat-mixed-reaction-in-israel-idUSKBN1ES0IM">angered the Palestinians</a>, who have argued that his policies in the Middle East strongly <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-israel-embassy-jerusalem-capital-2017-12">favor Israel</a> and the US could no longer be viewed as an <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-israel-abbas/palestinian-president-says-u-s-can-no-longer-broker-peace-idUSKBN1E22HT">impartial broker for peace</a>.Trump's decision to cut aid to Palestinians may also have been influenced by recent comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said last week that UNRWA <a href="http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Benjamin-Netanyahu/Netanyahu-UNRWA-needs-to-pass-away-from-the-world-533022">needs to disappear from the face of the earth</a> because it perpetuates Palestinian suffering. Israel has also previously recommended the US gradually reduce its aid to UNRWA, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/American-Politics/As-US-weighs-policy-on-UNRWA-Israel-recommends-gradually-reducing-aid-532988">Israeli media reported</a>, advice that the US seems to have taken.<h2 style="font-weight: 400;">What is UNRWA?</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Abid Katib/Getty ImagesPalestinian workers prepare aid at a distribution unit of a branch of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on July 23, 2008 in Gaza City, Gaza Strip.</div></div></div>UNRWA, or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees is a special aid unit created by the United Nations after the end of the Israeli-Arab war in 1948. Israel declared Independence and gained recognition from several international bodies that year, but displaced roughly 750,000 Palestinians living in the disputed land. The United Nations created the unit in 1949 to provide assistance and development opportunities to the influx of Palestinian refugees created as a by-product of Israel's creation. The aid benefits extend to refugees expelled from their homes in 1948, as well as their descendants, a clause unique to UNRWA.To date, there are roughly 5 million Palestinian refugees across several countries, including Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, who benefit from UNRWA's assistance programs.According to <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/human-development-goals">UNRWA's website</a>, the organization covers services like education and health care. They also provide social protection services and food aid to improve the physical and social well being of the refugees in refugee camps.Israel has condemned UNRWA in the past, and has been critical of militant groups in the Gaza strip using <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/who-we-are/human-development-goals">UNRWA facilities to store weapons</a>.<h2 style="font-weight: 400;">UNRWA will still provide its services, despite cuts </h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Abid Katib/Getty ImagesPalestinian refugee school girls play on the beach as they attend a summer games camp on July 14, 2008 in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is operating summer camps for at least 200,000 children registered in the UNRWA's schools.</div></div></div>According to UNRWA Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl, the US' aid cuts to UNRWA is likely to jeopardize the education and security of the millions of Palestinian refugees that benefit from aid programs. "At stake is the access of 525,000 boys and girls in 700 UNRWA schools, and their future ... the human security of millions of Palestine refugees, in need of emergency food assistance and other support in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank and Gaza Strip ... and the dignity of an entire community," Krähenbühl told Business Insider in a statement. Krähenbühl added that the US' decision will also impact the security of the region at large, at a time when "the Middle East faces multiple risks and threats, notably that of further radicalization."Faced with severe budget cuts, Krähenbühl said the organization urges Member States of the United Nations to show support for UNRWA and create "new funding alliances and initiatives." UNRWA said it created a social media campaign under the slogan #FundUNRWA in the hopes to have its message spread across global platforms. Krähenbühl stressed that UNWRA's aid will not be deterred by cuts: "We are working with absolute determination to ensure that UNRWA services continue." "This is a moment for internal cohesion and solidarity. Times are very critical but we will do our utmost to protect [UNRWA members]." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korea-kim-jong-un-scariest-dictators-2016-1">North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un is 34 -here's how he became one of the world's scariest dictators</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

The US suspended $65 million in aid to the Palestinian aid group UNWRA - and it could affect millions of lives

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Rame AlsayedUN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) workers stand by aid parcels at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, south of Damascus, Syria in this picture made available on February 26, 2014.</div></div></div><ul><li>United Nations aid group UNRWA said it was told that US aid money delivered to the organization could not be used for services in Syria and Lebanon. </li><li>The organization said it was the first time the US had "geographically earmarked" its funding.</li><li>Last week, the the US announced it would cut its aid to the group by half. </li><li>The organization said cuts could be part of President Donald Trump's greater strategy to cut back on foreign assistance. </li></ul> United Nations aid group UNRWA alleges that US aid money pledged to the organization was specifically earmarked for refugee services in certain areas and could not be used for services in Syria and Lebanon. This marks the first time the US has specifically exempted their funds from being used in those countries, according to Elizabeth Campbell, Director at The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).The organization is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states, and the United States has historically provided about one-third of UNRWA's humanitarian budget, Campbell told Business Insider.Last week, the US announced it would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-65-million-in-aid-cuts-to-palestinian-refugee-group-unwra-will-affect-millions-2018-1">cut its aid to UNRWA by half</a>, and pledged $60 million to the group. The US State Department said it was withholding another $65 million from the group until it made "unspecified reforms."State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a press briefing that the $60 million the US has pledged to the group would be used to "sustain schools and health services" and ensure that "teachers and also health care providers can be paid their salaries." The Department did not go into specifics about the services set to benefit by their aid contribution, but added that the US would like to "take a look at UNRWA, trying to make sure that the money is best spent."According to Campbell, all of UNRWA's funding goes toward operating "700 schools across Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan" and helps maintain operations in "140 clinics across the five areas." "This is the biggest funding crisis the Agency has ever experienced," Campbell said. "None of the funding can be used toward Lebanon and Syria."Campbell says the organization was shocked to discover the US' plans for major cuts to the organization. "We don't know why this is the case. It's the first time they have geographically earmarked funding to us, normally it goes to all branches." Campbell explained that the group's operations are the same in each of their five branches. "Our mandate is the same in those areas so we provide education, access to healthcare, and emergency relief and other services in all five areas." Campbell said there was no distinct differences in the group's contributions in Lebanon and Syria, other than the political climate.<h2>Aid cuts reflect Trump's changing policies in the Middle East</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Ronen Zvulun/Reuters</div></div></div>According to Campbell, UNRWA had little warning that the US was even considering slashing its aid contributions to the group. She said she learned of US plans to cut the organization's aid when UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said earlier this month at a press conference that President Donald Trump said he was <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-palestinians-aid/u-s-threatens-to-withhold-aid-cash-to-palestinians-idUSKBN1ER1WT">considering cutting some or all aid to the group</a>. "Shortly thereafter we received funding. We weren't informed in advance of that."When asked to speculate about the US' motives for reducing UNRWA's aid budget, Campbell said they could be part of Trump's greater strategy to cut back on foreign aid. "There are a lot of dynamics in play, one of which is US withdrawing foreign assistance generally."The Trump administration in early 2017 announced plans to slash foreign aid by 28%, according to <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a White House budget document</a>. The US has already pledged to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-withhold-255-million-in-aid-to-pakistan-2018-1">withhold $255 million in aid to Pakistan</a>.Campbell also said Trump's political interests in the Middle East have affected aid. "Another piece is obviously related to Trump's decision on Jerusalem," said Campbell, referring to Trump's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-israel-embassy-jerusalem-capital-2017-12">controversial move</a> to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/netanyahu-says-us-to-move-embassy-to-jerusalem-within-year-2018-1">plans to move the US embassy</a>.Since speaking with Ms. Campbell, the US announced it was withholding <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-usa-un/u-s-wont-pay-45-million-pledged-for-palestinian-food-aid-for-now-idUSKBN1F73CM">an additional $45 million</a> from the group in the form of food aid.Business Insider has reached out to the State Department for comment. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-bomb-launch-procedure-us-government-president-2017-11">Here's how easy it is for the US president to launch a nuclear weapon</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

A UN aid group alleges the US won't allow its money to go toward helping refugees in Syria and Lebanon

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">AP Photo/Sebastian ScheinerUS President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake during then visit to the Israel museum in Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 23, 2017.</div></div></div><ul><li>In President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address, he asked Congress to help pass legislation ensuring US aid serves "American interests," and would be prioritized for "friends of America."</li><li>Trump also lauded his December decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and criticized countries that rejected the move at the United Nations.</li><li>The White House announced its plans to cut foreign aid in its 2018 budget proposal.</li><li>The US has since cut hundreds of millions in foreign assistance.</li></ul> In US President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address on Tuesday, he called on congress to pass legislation that would ensure US aid would be prioritized in favor of what he called "America's friends." "I am asking Congress to pass legislation to help ensure American foreign assistance dollars always serve American interests and only go to friends of America, not enemies of America," Trump said. Trump also lauded his December decision to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-israel-embassy-jerusalem-capital-2017-12">recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel</a>, Trump added that dozens of countries <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/un-votes-reject-trump-jerusalem-decision-2017-12">voted against his Jerusalem decision at the United Nations.</a>"In 2016, American taxpayers generously sent those same countries more than $20 billion in aid," Trump claimed. Trump added that while the US was strengthening its "friendships" around the world, it was also "restoring clarity" on entities the US considers "adversaries." The White House pitched its plans to make heavy cuts to foreign aid in its <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/budget.pdf">2018 budget proposal</a>. In line with Trump's "<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-arrives-in-switzerland-to-take-america-first-to-the-davos-ellite-2018-1">America First</a>" policy, the White House stated it would focus on "returning more American dollars home and ensuring foreign aid supports American interests and values."The US has reportedly <a href="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/03/13/white-house-seeks-to-cut-billions-in-funding-for-united-nations/">threatened to make cuts to United Nations programs</a> by up to 50%, and Trump reiterated the notion in December when he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trump-israel-un/trump-threatens-to-cut-aid-to-u-n-members-over-jerusalem-vote-idUSKBN1EE2A3">threatened to cut finances to UN member states</a> who voted against his Jerusalem decision.In the last month, Trump has made firm on his promises to slash foreign aid to countries and aid groups that were deemed unfavorable.The US announced it was <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-to-withhold-255-million-in-aid-to-pakistan-2018-1">withholding $255 million in aid to Pakistan</a> following a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-threatens-to-cut-aid-to-pakistan-2018-1">series of tweets</a> from the president of which he accused the country of providing "safe haven" to terrorists.Two weeks later, the US announced it would <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-65-million-in-aid-cuts-to-palestinian-refugee-group-unwra-will-affect-millions-2018-1">suspend $65 million in aid</a> to UNRWA, a United Nations group that provides relief and education services to Palestinian refugees. Trump had <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-threatens-to-cut-aid-to-palestinians-over-failed-peace-talks-2018-1">previously threatened</a> to withhold aid from the group if the Palestinians <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-peace-plan-palestine-president-promises-slap-back-2018-1">continue to refuse to negotiate</a> a US-brokered peace deal. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/yanis-varoufakis-says-britain-cant-win-brexit-negotiations-2018-1">It's impossible for the UK to win Brexit negotiations - so this is what Theresa May should do, according to Yanis Varoufakis</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Trump asks Congress to pass legislation making sure US aid 'only goes to America's friends'

Yarmouk, a Palestinian neighborhood in Damascus, has been under siege by the Syrian army since July 2013. 
At least 55 have died from hunger and the majority of children are suffering from malnutrition, <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/01/starving-death-syria-yarmouk-camp-201412974852695717.html">according to</a> a Palestinian activist living in Yarmouk.
About 20,000 people are currently besieged. The regime of Bashar al-Assad says "terrorists" are holding people hostage in besieged areas. Syrian jets have also been <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/18/syria-palestinian-refugees-flee-yarmouk">bombing</a> the area.
This picture, published by United Nations Relief Workers Agency, shows people waiting for food aid.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><a href="http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/unrwa%E2%80%99s-commissioner-general-firmly-reiterates-need-unhindered-humanitarian">UNRWA</a></div></div>
"I am deeply disturbed and shaken by what I observed today," UNRWA's Commissioner General Filippo Grandi said after he entered Yarmouk camp on Tuesday. "The Palestine refugees with whom I spoke were traumatized by what they have lived through, and many were in evident need of immediate support, particularly food and medical treatment."
Grandi said his experience "underlines the timeliness of the UN Security Council resolution 2139 on Humanitarian Access and the need for all sides to implement the resolution without fail."
The resolution was passed last week, but it <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/25/uk-syria-crisis-aid-idUKBREA1O16G20140225">has stalled</a>.
"There are views that this resolution finally has some teeth. I don't see it that way," an aid worker in the region told Reuters. 
A quarter of a million people are stuck in besieged areas around the capital. Reuters notes that the Syrian regime and to a lesser extent rebels fighting to overthrow him have been blocking food and medical care.

This Harrowing Photo From Syria Is What Mass Hunger Looks Like

<a class="cite"></a><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">REUTERS/Finbarr O'ReillyA Palestinian girl who medics said was injured by Israeli shelling during an Israeli ground offensive, sits on a bed at a hospital in Beit Lahita in the northern Gaza Strip July 30, 2014.</div></div></div>GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel killed at least 19 Palestinians sheltering in a school in Gaza's biggest refugee camp on Wednesday, a U.N. official said, as Egyptian mediators prepared a revised proposal to try to halt more than three weeks of fighting.
Some 3,000 Palestinians, including many women and children, were taking refuge in the building in Jebalya refugee camp when it came under fire around dawn, Khalil al-Halabi, director of northern Gaza operations for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said.
"There were five shells - Israeli tank shells - which struck the people and killed many of them as they slept. Those people came to the school because it a designated U.N. shelter," he said.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said militants had fired mortar bombs from the vicinity of the school and troops fired back in response. The incident was still being reviewed.
UNRWA said on Tuesday it had found a cache of rockets concealed at another Gaza school - the third such discovery since the conflict began. It condemned unnamed groups for putting civilians at risk.
In addition to the 19 dead, some 125 people were wounded at the Jabalya school, including five in critical condition, Halabi said. An UNRWA source said the agency had recovered fragments from the shells.
Blood splattered floors and mattresses inside classrooms, and some survivors picked through shattered glass and debris for flesh and body parts to bury.
Israel has been shelling in Jebalya, where some 120,000 people live, since Tuesday, in what the chief Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier-General Motti Almoz, described as a slight broadening of its campaign against militants in the Hamas Islamist-dominated Gaza Strip.
Israeli tank fire also struck the main market in Jebalya on Wednesday, killing at least three people and wounding 40 others, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Seven members of one family died in an Israeli attack in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.
The ministry said 1,270 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since Israel began its offensive on July 8 with the declared aim of halting cross-border rocket fire.
In ground operations launched 10 days later, the army has said its main mission is to locate and destroy tunnels that militants have built under the frontier and have used to launch attacks inside Israel.
On the Israeli side, 53 soldiers and three civilians have been killed. Public support remains strong for continuing the operation in the hope of preventing future flareups.
<h3>HAMAS DEFIANT</h3>
Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas's armed wing, said in a broadcast message on Tuesday that Palestinians would continue confronting Israel until its blockade on Gaza - which is supported by neighboring Egypt - was lifted.
Five rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel on Wednesday, landing harmlessly in open areas, police said.
Israel has balked at freeing up Gaza's borders under any de-escalation deal unless Hamas's disarmament is also guaranteed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was due to review progress with his security cabinet later on Wednesday, and a Palestinian delegation was expected in Cairo for discussions on an elusive truce.
In previous bouts of fighting between Israel and its neighbors, the United States has often leaned on the Israelis to stop after incidents that cause high civilian casualties. Washington appears to have less sway with either side this time.
Egypt said on Tuesday it was revising an unconditional ceasefire proposal that Israel had originally accepted but Hamas rejected, and that a new offer would be presented to the Palestinian representatives.
UNRWA, the main U.N. relief agency in Gaza, said it was at "breaking point" with more than 200,000 Palestinians having taken shelter in its schools and buildings following calls by Israel for civilians to evacuate whole neighborhoods before military operations.
Both U.S. President Barack Obama and the U.N. Security Council have called for an immediate ceasefire to allow relief to reach Gaza's 1.8 million Palestinians, followed by negotiations on a more durable end to hostilities.
Efforts led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week failed to achieve a breakthrough, and the explosion of violence appeared to dash international hopes of turning a brief lull for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr festival into a longer-term ceasefire.
In a statement on Wednesday, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he was "extremely concerned about the escalating fighting in and around Gaza" in which civilian infrastructure and U.N. facilities have come under fire.
"Everything must be done to prevent civilian victims and to uphold humanitarian law," he said. "I urge both sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire and to resume negotiations about a long-term ceasefire on the basis of the Egyptian suggestions."
(Additional reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Paul Taylor)

More Mayhem In Gaza As Israeli Shells Kill At Least 19 At Refugee Camp

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">Thomson ReutersA man stands amid the rubble of damaged buildings at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, south of Damascus</div></div></div>BEIRUT (Reuters) - Amnesty International accused President Bashar al-Assad's forces on Monday of perpetrating war crimes as part of a siege in southern Damascus which has killed nearly 200 people, mostly by starvation.
Yarmouk, once home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees and Syrian nationals, is one of several districts on the edge of the Syrian capital which the army has surrounded to choke off rebel forces seeking Assad's overthrow.
"The Syrian government has committed numerous war crimes as part of the siege of Yarmouk," Amnesty said in a report released on Monday.
"Hundreds of civilian residents of Yarmouk have been killed, wounded or have perished as a result of deliberate starvation and destruction of their means of support, direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks."
Mainly Sunni Muslim rebels in northern Syria have also besieged two Shi'ite towns, but most of the blockades across the country have been carried out by Assad's forces.
Only around 20,000 residents remain in Yarmouk, living under a siege which started in late 2012 but was tightened in July last year when fighters from al Qaeda's Nusra Front and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, which had moved into the district, clashed with the army.
Amnesty listed 194 people it said were civilians who had died in Yarmouk since then. Two thirds were reported to have died of starvation, the London-based human rights group said.
Under an agreement reached in mid-January, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA has distributed food to the remaining Yarmouk inhabitants, but its work has been interrupted by continued fighting and it says the food which has reached Yarmouk is inadequate.
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said on Monday that clashes and shelling continued in Yarmouk over the weekend and the agency had not been able to deliver humanitarian aid for the last nine days.
"The siege of Yarmouk amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population," said Amnesty's regional director Philip Luther.
"The Syrian government must end its siege immediately and allow humanitarian agencies unfettered access to assist its suffering civilians."
(Reporting by Dominic Evans; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Syrian Government Accused Of 'Numerous War Crimes' In Siege Of Palestinian Camp

<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Mohammed Salem A member of the Palestinian civil defense paddles a boat as he evacuates a man and his children after their house was flooded with rainwater on a stormy day in the northern <keyword id="39746" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Gaza">Gaza</keyword> Strip December 14, 2013.</div></div>
GAZA (Reuters) - More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from flood-damaged homes in northern Gaza in what the United Nations has called "a disaster area", officials said on Saturday.
Flooding has been so severe that access to many homes is by rowing boat and water is reported to be two meters (more than six feet) high in some places. Many people have been trapped inside inundated homes by rising waters.
The flooding is the result of four days of torrential rains.
"Large swathes of northern Gaza are a disaster area with water as far as the eye can see," the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) that administers refugee camps in the Palestinian territory, said in a statement.
The Gaza health ministry said 100 people had suffered injuries in the severe weather, which damaged poorly built homes in the coastal territory, including from car accidents on flooded roads, and items falling from inundated buildings.
Chris Gunness, an UNRWA spokesman, said areas near a refugee camp in northern Gaza "have become a massive lake with two-meter-high waters engulfing homes and stranding thousands."
Thousands of agency workers were evacuating stranded Palestinians to U.N. shelters, Gunness said.
Gaza's Hamas government said 4,306 in all had been evacuated to schools and other centers used as makeshift shelters in the past four days.
Gaza's 1.8 million people has also been enduring around 12-hour blackouts daily since the lone power plant was switched off last month due to a fuel shortage.
One of the most densely populated tracts on earth, Gaza is home to mostly impoverished refugees and their descendants.
The territory lacks much basic civil infrastructure and lives under an Egyptian-Israeli blockade meant to cut off arms flows, but which also curbs imports of fuel, building supplies and basic goods.
Israel opened a main crossing with Gaza on Friday to allow in fuel supplies and four water pumps to help relieve flood damage.
Gaza's prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, urged the Arab League on Saturday to take steps to end the blockades of his territory, a statement from his office said.
(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan in Jerusalem Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
<div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Mohammed SalemA car is seen submerged in floodwaters as a member of the Palestinian civil defense rides a boat after heavy rains on a stormy day in Gaza City December 13, 2013.</div></div>

Thousands Of People Evacuated By Boat As Rain Turns Northern Gaza Into a 'Disaster Area'

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">REUTERS/Mohammed Abdullah A boy stands outside a tent where he is staying with his family in eastern Ghouta near Damascus January 6, 2014. Food and fuel supplies have gone short in eastern Ghouta which has been under siege, activists said.</div></div></div>Besieged since June, nearly 20,000 people in Damascus' Yarmuk Palestinian camp are so desperate for food that many eat stray animals, and some women have resorted to prostitution, according to residents reached via the Internet.
"Many here have slaughtered and eaten cats and dogs, and even a donkey," said Yarmuk resident Ali, who was a university student when Syria's revolt erupted in 2011.
"One man who killed a dog couldn't find any meat to eat on its body, because even the dogs are starving," he told AFP via Skype.
"What was unimaginable a few months ago is normal now."
Once a refugee camp, Yarmuk evolved generations ago into a bustling commercial and residential district, where both Syrians and Palestinians resided.
In 2011, it was home to some 150,000 Palestinians registered in Syria after waves of displacement forced their ancestors to seek shelter following Israel's establishment.
When war spread to areas of Damascus in the summer of 2012, thousands of people from other parts of the capital fled to Yarmuk, swelling its population further.
But Yarmuk soon became a war zone too, as Syrians taking up arms against President Bashar al-Assad's regime moved into the camp.
Some Palestinians joined the rebels, others backed pro-regime groups, mainly the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).
In June, the army imposed a total blockade on Yarmuk, which covers an area of just over two square kilometres (less than a square mile).
Most residents had fled by then, but, according to the United Nations, 18,000 civilians remain.
Seven months later, food and medical supplies have all but run out, with prices skyrocketing to up to $100 for a kilogram of rice, residents say.
"The situation is so desperate that women are selling their bodies to men who stocked up food before the siege was imposed, for just a cup of rice or bulgur," said Ali.
"Imagine the feeling of a father unable to feed his children, as they wail from hunger," he added.
Seventy-eight people, including 25 women and three children, have died as a result of the shortages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Of these, 61 died in the past three months, according to the Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and doctors inside the country for its reports.
Tasked with meeting the Palestinian refugees' needs, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has struggled to secure access to the camp.
Only two convoys have made it into Yarmuk in recent months, bringing in a scant 138 parcels of food aid.
According to UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness, "the aid allowed in... so far is shockingly inadequate to meet the dire needs of these (18,000) civilians."
The needs include "powder milk for babies, polio vaccines for infants and basic foodstuffs," said Gunness.
On January 18, the government said it would facilitate aid access.
"However, the agency is extremely disappointed that... the assurances given by the authorities have not been backed by action on the ground to facilitate the regular, rapid entry into Yarmuk of the substantial quantities of relief required to make a difference to thousands of civilians," Gunness told AFP.
While regime and opposition representatives are meeting in Geneva for peace talks and to negotiate aid access for Homs in central Syria, it appears Yarmuk's fate is not being addressed.
PFLP-GC spokesman Anwar Raja blamed the rebels, whom he described as "terrorists," for the camp's plight.
"There was an agreement for the Palestinian armed men inside the camp to pressure non-Palestinian armed men to leave," Raja said, referring to rebels.
"We hope the people will push on the Palestinian armed groups that had pledged to pressure the other armed groups, including Al-Nusra (Front, an Al-Qaeda affiliate)... to create a better atmosphere to ensure aid gets in."
For his part, Wissam Sbaaneh, a member of the Palestinian Jafra Foundation, blamed the PFLP-GC and the army.
"People are asking for milk powder for children and vaccines. What on earth would the fighters want milk powder for?" said Sbaaneh, mocking a PFLP-GC claim that the civilians are being held "hostage" by the armed opposition.
Sbaaneh also said other armed groups, barring the jihadists, have honored the agreement with the regime, and that "civilians are ready to pressure Al-Nusra if the regime proves it is being serious".
Indeed on Monday, the Observatory reported a demonstration in the camp against Al-Nusra Front.
Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman insisted the siege must be lifted altogether.
"Civilians are being starved in order to force them to turn against the rebels. It is a war crime to besiege areas where civilians are present," Abdel Rahman told AFP.
<div class="nc_footer">
Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.
</div>

20,000 Syrian Refugees in Damascus Are So Hungry They Eat Stray Animals

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>As the civil war engulfing Syria and its region moves toward its fifth year of vicious conflict, the <a href="http://donate.unhcr.org/international/syria" target="_blank">United Nations is struggling</a> to support more than 9 million displaced people, a third of whom have fled the country.
António Guterres, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said the Syrian crisis "has become the biggest humanitarian emergency of our era, yet the world is failing to meet the needs of refugees and the countries hosting them."
Business Insider's analysis, based on numbers provided by a recent <a href="http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/policy-briefing-series/pb10-protection-europe-refugees-syria-2014.pdf" target="_blank">report by the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University</a>, shows neighboring countries support 90% of refugees fleeing the crisis. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Lebanon - which is less than half the size of New Jersey - is taking significantly more Syrian refugees than any other country. More than 1.1 million refugees live in Lebanon, where almost one in four people are now refugees from Syria.
Unlike other neighboring countries, Lebanon has no refugee camps. Syrians are hosted by local communities or rent accommodation within the country. 
"It's putting an enormous strain on the country - its economy, infrastructure, society, and resources," Ariane Rummery, a senior communications officer with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, told Business Insider. 
"Still, the generosity of the government and people of Lebanon remains and the country deserves all the help it can get from the international community."
The <a href="http://syrianrefugees.eu" target="_blank">Migration Policy Center at the European University Institute notes</a> that, "Lebanon's situation has becoming increasingly more volatile as the Syrian civil war unfolds." 
<a href="http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/files/publications/policy-briefing-series/pb10-protection-europe-refugees-syria-2014.pdf">Oxford Univesity reports</a> some experts fear the refugee crisis could further exacerbate problematic relations in the region, "creating serious tensions among refugees and host populations, and potentially precipitating an explosion that could engulf the entire Middle East."
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="UNRWA, via AP" title_caption="Residents of the refugee camp of Yarmouk queuing to receive food supplies from the United Nations in Damascus, Syria." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/540f65cc6bb3f7e52cdc85e7-960/unrwa-syrian-refugees-1.jpg"></a>UNRWA, via APResidents of the refugee camp of Yarmouk queuing to receive food supplies from the United Nations in Damascus, Syria.</div></div></div>Israeli Intransigence </h3>
Israel, which shares its northern border with Syria, has steadfastly refused to receive refugees.
Yuval Ben-Ami, an Israeli journalist and author based in Jaffa, told Business Insider, "at this point in its history, Israel seems determined to barricade itself, primarily of its immediate neighborhood."
Ben-Ami says the idea of Israel accepting Syrian refugees is "extremely foreign" to Israelis, and that even refugee advocates speak little about the Syrian issue because it seems fruitless.
"Refugees who do arrive in Israel, mostly from conflict zones in East Africa, are treated as infiltrators. Thousands of them are currently detained without trial in a large scale desert facility designed for this very purpose," he said.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>While not granting long-term protection, Israeli hospitals on the border have given treatment to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/world/middleeast/despite-decades-of-enmity-israel-quietly-aids-syrian-civilians.html?_r=0" target="_blank">several hundred</a> Syrians in need. <a href="http://www.dw.de/israel-cooperating-with-assad-in-golan-heights/a-17904892" target="_blank">Some reports</a> also indicate that as a result of pressure from communities along the occupied northern border, Israel may begin accepting a relatively small number of refugees soon.
By comparison, Palestine's Gaza Strip - covering an area of just 139 square miles - has received <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/12/syrian-refugees-find-shelter-gaza-strip-201312871859523433.html" target="_blank">1,500 Syrian refugees</a>. 
<h3>Farther Afield</h3>
Business Insider's analysis shows that outside of the region, most countries have been reluctant to formally resettle any significant number of Syrian refugees.
The striking exception is Germany. 
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div>Germany has already accepted 6,000 Syrian refugees and has so far pledged to take up to 20,000. 
The number marks an increase from an <a href="http://www.dw.de/syrian-refugees-in-germany/a-17697536">initial pledge of 5,000</a> in 2013, making Germany the highest contributor to refugee relocation outside of the region by a wide margin. 
11,800 Syrians arrived in Germany seeking asylum in the first half of 2014, according to the U.S.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>
"Germany has really led the way, being very generous taking 20,000 Syrians through humanitarian admission and another 7,500 Syrians through individual sponsorship arrangements," Rummery said.
The country has stated that it is grossly unfair for countries neighboring Syria to bear the overwhelming burden of the conflicts 3 million refugees. 
In June this year, <a href="http://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/DE/Joachim-Gauck/Reden/2014/06/140630-Fluechtlingsschutz.html">German President Joachim Gauck said</a>, "We, in Germany and Europe, do much, but not as much as it itself sometimes seems … if we do not do all we can, we not only fail in front of our neighbors, we fail ourselves and lose respect." 
<a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/surge-in-refugees-catches-german-leaders-off-guard-a-979633.html" target="_blank">German magazine Der Spiegel reports</a> that in contrast to the 1990s, there is now greater consensus among Germans that refugees should be protected by their country. 
"Empathy for stranded people - who have made the voyage from Africa, often having given their entire sayings to human-traffickers in the hope of getting to Europe - has replaced old fears of foreigners," the magazine notes.
<h3><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Open Wallets, Closed Doors</h3>
Apart from Germany and some countries with higher per-capita intakes, the Oxford study concludes there appears to be a clear pattern to responses from Western countries. 
The report says such countries combine "generous humanitarian and development aid in the Syrian region, political pressure on the actors of the conflict, and a minimal response in terms of resettlement and humanitarian admission of refugees."
Despite pledging to take 500 refugees, the U.K. took only 24 refugees through its special Syrian intake program in the first six months of this year.
While the United States is the largest donor to Syrian relief efforts, it has accepted only 63 Syrian refugees this year.
However, the UNHCR told Business Insider it expects the U.S. to rank up with Germany as one of the top two receivers of Syrians in 2015. 
The U.N. said the U.S. accepted a request to load its resettlement intake toward the end of this year, with the organization already submitting 2,500 applications for consideration over the coming months.

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