Portion below; whole thing here: http://www.uruknet.de/?s1=1&p=53370&s2=13
Antoine Grand, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sub-delegation to Gaza, says that the ICRC is still negotiating with the Israelis to allow waste water and water plant spare parts and repair equipment into Gaza.
"We have been waiting for several months but so far we have not been permitted to import this equipment which is essential for the projects we have under way to repair sewage and water plants damaged during the Gaza war," Grand told IPS.
OCHA says in its report that supplies of cooking gas are still well below market needs. No commercial benzene and diesel, apart from 391,300 liters for UNRWA operations, have entered Gaza since November last year.
About 150,000 Gazans are still deprived of access to sufficient quantities of safe drinking water, while 90 percent experience intermittent power cuts. Gazans in need of medical attention abroad are struggling to get permits.
Meanwhile, as controversy rages around the restriction of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a new dispute has arisen over the UN's appointment of Justice Richard Goldstone, a South African judge, to head an investigation into war crimes in Gaza.
The former war crimes prosecutor will head a four-member team whose mandate stems from a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council at a special session 12 January. Israel is not keen on the UN investigating its military offensive in Gaza earlier this year. Israeli attacks left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, most of them civilian, and nearly 5,000 wounded.
International human rights organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and several Israelis rights groups have accused Israel of war crimes and of using controversial weapons indiscriminately.
Israel has denied committing war crimes, and complained of an anti-Israel bias. A number of Israelis say that Goldstone, despite being Jewish, is biased against Israel. But some Arabs and Muslims have expressed concern that he would be too soft on Israel because of his background.
However, Goldstone's credentials are impeccable. A former anti-apartheid activist and court judge, he served as chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
"It is in the interest of all Palestinians and Israelis that the allegations of war crimes and serious human rights violations related to the recent conflict on all sides be investigated," Goldstone said in a statement.
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