The statistics showed that 2,372 were killed in Gaza Strip during clashes with Israeli troops or in various Israeli raids while 1,940 Palestinians where killed in West Bank. Among the killed during the Intifada, 847 were children aged under 18.

The report added that some others were killed both outside the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel.

Moreover, the figure didn't include the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli offensive action dubbed operation "Summer Rains" launched in late June after the capture of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit in Gaza Strip by Palestinian militant groups. At least 250 have been killed in this operation which is still ongoing.

The Intifada was erupted on Sept. 28, 2000 when the then Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the disputed al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Palestinians, who considered Sharon's visit as provocative, took suddenly to the streets and clashed with Israeli troops.

However, affected by the Israeli operations and blockade, the Palestinian economy declined to the lowest level in 2002 and is still suffering today in spite of limited progress, said the report.

Witnesses said that the two boys were riding bicycles in the street near the entrance of Beit Hanoun town when a missile fired by an Israeli reconnaissance plane hit them.

An Aljazeera correspondent said their bodies were badly lacerated, making it difficult to identify them.

The Israeli army said it could not release details on the attack but said it had targeted two men suspected of involvement in firing rockets into Israel.

An army spokeswoman said the two had been hit as they were collecting a launcher that had been used several times over the past week to fire rockets from northern Gaza.

She said they had been targeted by ground forces, not from the air, but would not confirm what sort of weaponry was used.

Eyewitnesses said the two boys did not have weapons on them.

Speaking about why he moved his family to Palestine, Asi said: "I want my children to learn the language, and our traditions. When they finish high school here, they will go to study in the US."

US officials say they began receiving complaints in March from Americans who were refused entry by Israeli border officials.

The consulate is recording these accounts, and diplomats have raised the issue with Israel.

But Israeli officials say the problem is procedural.

Sabine Haddad, a population administration spokesperson of the Israeli ministry of interior said: "I want to clarify that nothing has changed.

"The only thing that has changed is that for two or three years we let people enter without permits."

Permits required

Haddad says that Israeli border officials and the military were notified by the ministry of justice that any foreigner planning to enter the West Bank or Gaza needs a pre-arranged permit. Those who have tried to attain this permit, however, find that neither the Israeli army nor the Palestinian interior ministry is able to help them.

Since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September last year, Israeli authorities have required foreign passport holders to co-ordinate with them before entering Gaza via Israel.

The only other access point, the Rafah crossing to Egypt, is reserved for Palestinians carrying residency documents, and has been closed for much of this year.

Palestinians fear that the West Bank, like Gaza, will be cut off from foreign tourism and trade.

Those affected by the visa crackdown include prominent business persons, educators, government consultants, development workers and the Palestinian diaspora.

Palestinian-Americans

An estimated 35,000 Americans live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Some are of Palestinian origin, while others are married to Palestinians or work for Palestinian or international organizations.

Sociologist Salim Tamari says that trade and family lines leading to the Americas are typical of Eastern Mediterranean societies.

"It's only with recent times and the Israelis that it became difficult to come back," he says.

But the majority of foreign nationals seeking residency in the West Bank are Jordanian citizens requesting to join children, parents or spouses. They are Palestinians who were separated from their homeland by war.

Procedures for legalising residency in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were frozen by Israel in 2000, with the start of the Palestinian uprising. The Palestinian ministry of the interior says it has a backlog of 120,000 petitions.

Israeli human rights workers say the tightening of visa rules is an additional form of pressure on the Palestinian government.

But Yehezkiel Lien, research director of the Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem says Israel's main reason for freezing Palestinian residency petitions is the "demographic consideration" or the desire to maintain a Jewish majority between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

Illegal, but defiant

Nevertheless, many foreign passport holders have continued to live in the West Bank despite the freeze by renewing a tourist visa every three months. Still others have remained illegally.

Last week, nearly 200 Palestinians gathered at the al-Bireh municipality at a meeting called by the Campaign for the Right of Entry/Re-Entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Ramallah council member Mahmud Abd Allah told the group that villages and towns in his district, many of them hosting US and Latin American citizens, would be deeply impacted by the visa crackdown.

There has been no official contact between the Israeli government and Palestinian ministries since the Islamist movement Hamas won elections in January.

Israel and the US are leading an international economic and diplomatic boycott of the Palestinian Authority.

"He who stands firm before these conspiracies, is the most qualified to lead the Palestinian people," said one banner held up by a child alluding to Western pressure on Hamas to recognise Israel and renounce violence.

"We support the Palestinian government and (prime minister Ismail) Haniya specifically to send a message to the world that we are prepared to continue our resistance," Mohammed Abu Askar, a Hamas official, told AFP.

"We will die of hunger before we compromise the principles of the Palestinian cause," he added.

The European Union and United States suspended direct aid after Hamas took office last March owing to its status, in their eyes, as a terrorist organisation and because of its refusal to change its hardline stance.

An ensuing financial crisis, exacerbated by an ongoing Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip and closures have seen living conditions plummet.

"We reject the unjust siege imposed on our people and any unseating of the government. We will never recognise the legality of the occupation," said Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri.

He said his movement would "make every effort" to form a national unity cabinet, despite discussions in limbo with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and his moderate
Fatah party over reaching an agreement.

"I cannot say that there has been progress in any sense," Abbas admitted to reporters in Doha on Friday.

Earlier in September, 35 countries, to which were joined the UN, the Red Cross movement and NGOs, met in Stockholm to contribute to the restoration of some small measure of hope for the Gaza population. Donor countries announced a supplementary 116 million dollars for urgent humanitarian needs in the occupied Palestinian territories, half of which was in response to the appeal for 384 million dollars from the UN. While we must congratulate the donors on their constructive initiative, the Gaza population needs much more, and quickly. The UN's humanitarian appeal still requires 42% of the funds requested in spite of the warnings about a situation that is deteriorating rapidly, susceptible to destabilizing many families.

Since the Israeli operation "Summer Rain" began end-June in response to the kidnapping of an Israeli Defense Forces soldier, one Israeli soldier has been killed. During the same period, 235 Palestinians have been killed, including 46 children. Every loss of human life must be deplored. But there is no doubt that the response, measured in terms of civilian victims, is disproportionate. For the Palestinians, as for the Israelis, the consequences of the confrontations of the summer are devastating, just as they are pernicious to the perspectives for peace in this troubled region.

A ccess by air, sea, and land has been virtually cut off for Gaza. The movements of goods and peoples have practically ceased. Supplies of electricity and water, interrupted by Israeli Defense Forces attacks on electric power stations, is irregular and insignificant. Civilian infrastructures have been affected. Gaza today remains dependent on outside sources for its food and commercial supplies. Hygienic conditions are deteriorating, while access to potable water is inadequate. With a Palestinian economy in continuous freefall, we must expect a more severe deterioration in sanitary conditions.

Imagine: You are a mother or a father in Gaza, living in a space inferior to a quarter of that of greater London (1,620 sq. km) with a population the size of Leeds (1.49 million inhabitants). You cannot leave this territory, nor import nor export products. Your children live in continuous fear of violence. Shortages of essential goods, including water, increase the propagation of contagious illnesses and reinforce the problems of daily life. Every day, as many as 185 artillery shells strike your territory. Every night, you witness blind rocket attacks on Israel by militant groups. You know that when the reprisals come, you and your family will not be spared their effects.

Now, imagine that you live in Israel, where every night the rockets fall. Armed groups undermine your country, your daily life and your existence. We think it is not in either party's interest for violence to prevail in Gaza and the West Bank, situated at the crossroads of all the great world cultures and religions. To help disarm the Gaza time bomb, we need action on three fronts: humanitarian, economic, and political. In the first place, civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected by all parties. We ask the Israeli government in its capacity as occupying power, the Palestinian Authority, and all armed groups to acquit themselves of their responsibilities in the eyes of international law.

A cessation of hostilities must be accompanied by freedom of movement for civilians and humanitarian workers. For the Gaza population, the perception of being trapped, confined, of living in a cage is intolerable and feeds the feeling of despair. The November 15, 2005, agreement on movement and access must be wholly carried out.

Freedom of movement is also essential to allow humanitarian personnel to reach those in need in Gaza and the West Bank. The Karni passage, the main passageway between Israel and Gaza, must be transformed into a no-conflict, protected zone, open to the flow of products essential for the Palestinian population. An independent third party could be designated to maintain surveillance of this zone in response to Israel's security expectations. With the majority of Gaza's population dependent on outside aid for its basic survival, restricting humanitarian access becomes a matter of life and death. On the economic front, we ask Israel to free up the roughly 500 million dollars of income from taxes and duties that it retains.

These funds are indispensable to respond in all urgency to humanitarian and economic needs. But money alone is certainly not the answer, any more than are "humanitarian Band-Aids on open wounds." In the end, only a return to the peace process and a durable two state solution can bring hope and healing to this troubled region. The need is urgent. The time is now. It's a question of solidarity and a question of security for all of us.

Jan Egeland is the UN Assistant Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs and Coordinator of Emergency Aid. Jan Eliasson is Sweden's Foreign Affairs Minister and former (1992-1994) UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs.