According to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is reaching a dangerous brink after two weeks of closure. On November 21 Karen AbuZayd, commissioner-general of UNRWA, warned that a humanitarian crisis is looming closer than ever in the Strip because of Israel's continued closure of border crossings and the severe lack of essential goods. "It's been closed for so much longer than ever before... and we have nothing in our warehouses... It will be a catastrophe if this persists, a disaster." she said. The majority of Gaza's 1.5 million residents are dependent on UNRWA rations, with as many as 820,000 people classed as refugees and therefore dependent on the Agency's services, including food rations.

Since Israel's November 4 attack into Gaza, which resulted in the killing of six Hamas operatives, all border crossings have been sealed shut. Furthermore, the majority of the Strip has been plunged into darkness after depleted fuel supplies and the consequent shutting down of the main power station. Israel claims it has been forced to keep the crossing closed because of the continued rocket fire coming from Gaza.

On November 19, outgoing Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would not open the crossings until the rockets had stopped. His statements came after international criticism of the closure, namely from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who called on Israel to allow more humanitarian goods to enter, saying the closure was "unacceptable."

In a statement released on November 14, Ban Ki-Moon voiced his concern "that food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people," calling for an immediate end to "measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza". Olmert said no one could blame Israel for defending itself. "If the other side decides on a ceasefire, there will be a ceasefire but if it chooses escalation, there will be a [military] operation."

On November 16 four Palestinians were killed in Gaza in an Israeli air strike and two missile attacks. The four young men, Talal Amoudi, Mohammed Hasouna, Ahmad Hilo, Basel Al 'If, were members of the Nasser Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees. Six others were injured. "We will continue operations so that the truce does not turn on the citizens of Israel," Olmert was quoted as saying after the military operation. That same day two Palestinian rockets fell on Sderot and six Israelis were treated for shock. No other injuries or damages were reported.

On November 21, Hamas de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said during Friday prayers in Gaza City that the armed groups were willing to maintain the truce with Israel on condition that Israel also abides by it.

Israel defense ministry official Amos Gilad also endorsed the "so-called" truce, saying that in spite of the violence, the ceasefire still held. His opinion was in sharp contrast to Kadima head and foreign minister Tzipi Livni who said on November 17 that the truce with Hamas was over and that Hamas was fully responsible for its demise. Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in the Strip is worsening, with approximately 50 percent of Gazans suffering from electricity and water shortages and from a sharp decline in food consumption.

A meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert on November 17 did not have the impact the Palestinians wanted in terms of lifting the siege on Gaza. According to press reports, Abbas called on Olmert to open the Gaza border crossings as well as the Rafah Crossing with Egypt so as to ease the crisis on its people. While Olmert did not acquiesce to this demand, he has reportedly agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners ahead of the Muslim holiday, Eid ul Adha, on December 8. The list, however, will most likely not include some of Abbas' suggested prisoners, such as Marwan Barghouti, Fateh's general secretary in the West Bank, or PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat. The President is also said to have scored another major achievement during the meeting, which is the cancellation of 3000 house demolition orders in areas of the West Bank.

Unfortunately, the cancellation does not apply to Jerusalem. On November 18, Israeli occupation forces demolished the home of Jamal Abu Sneineh in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiyeh. The house was demolished for the third time under the pretext of a lack of proper licensing. Furthermore, Israeli police tore down the makeshift tent set up for the Kurd family in east Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The Kurds, who have been in the spotlight for the past several weeks, were evicted from their home earlier in the month by Jewish settlers who claim the house and land on which it stands is privately owned by them. When Jerusalem residents and organizations pulled together to stand in solidarity with the Kurds and built them a tent, Israeli police maintained it was "illegal" to build a tent on someone's privately owned land.

In Hebron, the fight is still ongoing over the Rajabi house, a four-storey building in the heart of the city, which settlers forcefully took over and claim to have bought from a Palestinian two years ago. While the Israeli high court ordered the settlers out on November 17, the settler movement in Hebron has refused to leave. The Palestinian owner denies any sale was made, saying the deal was never completed.

The settlers have gone on yet another rampage in Hebron over the house, which has been dubbed "The House of Contention". On November 20, Jewish settlers attacked the Israeli army in Hebron and attacked Palestinian property. Settlers even scrawled "Mohammed is a pig" on the Al Ras mosque and vandalized a cemetery. Forty Palestinian houses were damaged in the attack.

In the same area of Hebron, on the street between the Ibrahimi Mosque and the Kiryat Arba settlement, Israeli forces took over four Palestinian homes and turned them into military outposts. Palestinians and as well as the Israeli army are bracing themselves for 20,000 Jewish settlers who are expected to descend on Hebron this weekend in an annual pilgrimage marking the death of Sarah, the Prophet Abraham's wife who is said to be buried in Hebron.

In a positive move, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband reiterated his country's stance on Jewish settlements, calling them illegal and urging European countries to put tighter restraints on products coming from the settlements. He said the EU would not treat settlement products like other Israeli products that enjoy tariff benefits under a European-Israeli agreement. The Foreign Secretary made his statements during a meeting with President Abbas in Ramallah on November 17. In a November 4 speech in London, Miliband made his position on Jewish settlements clear. "For Palestinians, feeling cheated and abused, there...are fears...that talks are a screen to cover continued settlement expansion, home demolition, land confiscation and the daily indignities of occupation," he said. "Settlement activity is illegal; it also makes a Palestinian state more difficult to achieve by the week."

Meanwhile, the second Palestine Investment Conference began in Nablus today, November 22, under the auspices of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The conference, which is a follow up to the first conference that took place in Bethlehem last May, will be a two-day event attended by over 1,000 businessmen from Palestine, Arab states and other countries including businessmen from inside Israel. According to Palestinian businessman Ziad Anabtawi, $700 million worth of projects is under discussion, while Munib Al Masri, another prominent businessman, said he expected investments to reach up to $1 billion.