(AKI) - Five sisters, aged from four to 17, were among the civilian victims of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said on Monday. The UN agency's Christopher Gunness told Adnkronos International (AKI) that at least 57 civilians had been killed in three days of Israeli attacks and the number was expected to rise."It is a tragic illustration of what happens when you use massive means against a densely populated part of the world," Gunness told AKI.
Gunness said the five girls had been killed in an attack on a refugee camp overnight. He called for a full investigation of the civilian casualties to determine whether there had been a violation of international humanitarian law. "We need to be absolutely clear of what happened," he told AKI. "It is very tragic indeed."
Palestinian sources estimate more than 300 people were killed in the Israeli offensive and another 1,400 have been injured in attacks since Saturday.
"The hospitals are completely overwhelmed," Gunness said. "For months there has been a strangulation of supplies."
Israel has declared areas around Gaza a "closed military zone" claiming there was a risk from Palestinian rocket fire.
There is speculation that Israel may stage a ground assault against Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gunness said the UN had 10,000 workers on the ground in Gaza and they were struggling to do their job. He said up to 750,000 people desperately needed food aid and there was no food to distribute to them.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said the military action would continue until the people in southern Israel "no longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages."