Calls for a ceasefire continued as the conflict entered its fifth day The UK has pledged some £6.9m in emergency aid to Gaza as international calls continue for a ceasefire in the conflict, now into its fifth day. Ministers said food, fuel and medicine were "desperately needed" and aid agencies must have unrestricted access. Save The Children UK has appealed for £6.8m in public donations, saying the risk of malnutrition is growing. Four days of Israeli air strikes have left hundreds dead, and rocket attacks from Gaza have killed several Israelis. 'Human suffering' Israel has rejected calls for a 48-hour halt to its military action while it continues to come under attack itself from militants in Gaza. Its government has said it would do "everything it could" to ensure civilians in Gaza get humanitarian aid, including opening border crossings closed during the recent blockade to allow supplies in. Both EU and UN have called for an end to the violence while the US has said the onus is on Hamas, the militant group which controls the Gaza Strip, to commit to a truce. The humanitarian situation is getting worse by the day

Douglas Alexander

Protests continue in London Announcing the £6.9m ($10m) pledge of emergency aid, International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander said the humanitarian situation in Gaza was fast deteriorating. "We are keen to get aid into Gaza because that aid is desperately needed," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The humanitarian situation is getting worse by the day." Mr Alexander said the UK was urging the Israeli authorities to give aid agencies "unfettered access" to Gaza to help those in need. "We want to see a greater level of access because the level of human suffering behind the conflict is growing daily," he said. The UN says it has been unable to deliver aid for the past two weeks and although 100 trucks carrying humanitarian relief did make it into Gaza on Tuesday, these supplies would only last for a matter of days. Launching its appeal, Save The Children said it had been unable to distribute more than 1,000 food parcels currently stocked in Gaza because it was not safe for its workers. "We are working to stockpile supplies so that as soon as there is a break in the air strikes, we can deliver the vital aid," said spokesman Osama Damo. 'Ineffective' Mr Alexander reiterated calls for a permanent ceasefire and said the UK was "highly engaged", along with the US and its Middle East partners, in trying to bring the conflict to an end. However, UK and EU efforts to mediate a ceasefire have been attacked in some quarters as ineffective. The Liberal Democrats said EU leaders needed to "ratchet up" the diplomatic pressure on both Israel and Hamas to end the bloodshed. "Calls for a ceasefire in Gaza will have to be backed up with real pressure if they are going to have any effect," said Ed Davey, the party's foreign affairs spokesman. Further protests against Israeli actions are due on Saturday He said the current situation risked "echoing the mistakes of the 2006 Lebanon war" in which more than 1,120 Lebanese and 150 Israelis died during a month-long conflict. Meanwhile, a coalition of 20 Muslim and non-Muslim groups has said it will hold a demonstration in London on Saturday against what it calls Israel's "barbaric attacks". Seventeen people were arrested during protests outside the Israeli Embassy in London on Sunday and Monday. A 48-hour truce, which would allow humanitarian relief into Gaza, was initially proposed by French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner. Five days of rocket attacks and retaliatory air strikes have left more than 370 Palestinians and four Israelis dead. Israel has said it is ready for "long weeks of action" to stamp out rocket attacks from Gaza, saying these attacks on Israeli territory present a fundamental threat to the nation's security. The strikes began days after a six-month ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas expired.



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