Annapolis talks as Gaza suffers

Last Modified: 26 Nov 2007
By: Nick Paton Walsh, Sarah Smith

As the US prepares to host Middle East peace talks, reports say Gaza residents are being denied medical care.

The Israeli prime minister and Palestinian president are in Washington ahead of tomorrow's Middle East peace talks in Annapolis.

The talks, at a US naval academy in Maryland, will be the first substantive discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for seven years.

One group not invited is Hamas, which runs Gaza and does not recognise Israel. Today Israel said it had killed four of its fighters - two of them in retaliation for earlier mortar fire.

Channel 4 News has been in Gaza, where a blockade is affecting people's medical care.

Israel is now facing accusations it is refusing sick people permission to leave the strip for urgent treatment unless they inform on their relatives - people Israel considers to be a security threat.