Pressure grows for Gaza ceasefire

International pressure to secure a ceasefire in Gaza was growing today as it teetered on the brink of a humanitarian disaster.

As hostilities continued, aid agencies warned last night that people in the region were facing “grave” shortages of food and water.

Hundreds of Israeli troops have poured over the border in a ground offensive which has left Gaza City paralysed as it is pounded with artillery.

Israeli troops were last night engaged in fierce battles with Palestinian fighters with deaths reported on both sides.

Gaza City was yesterday wreathed in billowing, black smoke as shells rained down on its beleaguered inhabitants throughout much of the day.

Aid agency Save the Children warned that basic humanitarian supplies are running out with much of the city left without electricity and water.

The agency called for aid to be let in to the stricken area and said that 50,000 children were already suffering from chronic malnutrition.

More than 2,000 families were displaced prior to the launch of the ground offensive on Saturday with charities expecting the number to increase significantly as fighting escalates.

Politicians including British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday united to urge both sides to reach an immediate ceasefire.

Mr Brown said it was vital that the international community, including the Arab League, worked together to find a workable solution to the problem.

He told the BBC: “This is a very dangerous moment, I think everybody around the world is expressing grave concern.

“What we’ve got to do almost immediately is to work harder than we’ve done for an immediate ceasefire.”

More than 500 Gazans have been killed and some 1,700 have been wounded since Israel began its aerial campaign more than a week ago, Gaza health officials said.

Last night Oxfam said that a paramedic working for one of their affiliated organisations had been killed when an Israeli shell hit an ambulance.

A number of Israeli civilians and one soldier have also died in rocket attacks which have reached deeper into Israel than ever before, bringing one eighth of Israel’s population within rocket range.

Aid worker Osama Damo fled his home in central Gaza after warnings of an imminent bombing attack.

He escaped to another part of the city and is staying in a house with 17 other family members.

Speaking from Gaza, he said: “Gaza City is a ghost town. Nobody is going out for fear of being hit, there is no food, no running water and no electricity.

“It is freezing cold and people are becoming extremely hungry.

“The city is being bombarded from every angle. It is terrifying."

The united calls for a ceasefire will intensify today and follow a weekend of international protest against Israel’s military action in Gaza.