Palestinians carry the bodies of three Fatah activists at their funeral in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Gaza's humanitarian crisis not a 'natural disaster' but a 'deliberate policy',
War was intended to diminish civilian support for Hamas.
Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday marked the first anniversary of the start of Israel's deadliest offensive ever launched against the besieged enclave.
The war anniversary, a bitter reminder of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, also fueled calls for Palestinian unity a year after the onslaught, which left over 1,400 Palestinians and also 13 Israelis dead.
The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)said the Palestinians have failed to lobby international support for their struggle to establish a statehood due to the political split between Islamic Hamas movement and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party.
"The split has left devastating effects and weakened the support for the people's steadfastness in Gaza," said Kayed al-Ghoul, a PFLP leader, in a statement.
Al-Ghoul said the feud between Hamas, which holds sway in Gaza, and Fatah, which governs the West Bank, has prevented Palestinian factions from "reviewing the Israeli aggressions jointly and drawing out a unified plan" to assess the Israeli military operation.
The Egyptian-sponsored Palestinian internal dialogue "is frozen now and there has been nothing new" since Hamas refused to sign an Egyptian proposal for reconciliation aimed to restore political unity between Gaza and the West Bank, he said.
Meanwhile, an official from Fatah, which accepted the Egyptian proposal, accused Hamas of not putting Palestinian unity and reconciliation as the top priority.
"Hamas' priorities involve itself, its own party and other regional powers," said Mohammed al-Aloul, a member of Fatah's Central Committee, referring to Hamas' ties with Syria and Iran.
The tension between Fatah faction and Hamas boiled over in June2007 when the militant group ousted the Fatah-dominated Palestinian security forces and took over Gaza. The infighting left Fatah only in control of the West Bank.
Since February, Egypt has hosted several rounds of Palestinian talks in Cairo between Fatah and Hamas in a bid to broker a reconciliation deal that would include presidential and legislative elections in June 2010.
But on Oct. 25, Egypt postponed the signing of the reconciliation pact until a further notice due to Hamas' rejection.
Also on Sunday, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas leader, struck a defiant tone claiming that Israel failed to deter Hamas in a speech before demonstrators marking the war anniversary.
He also called for unity and putting an end to the internal Palestinian split.
Al-Hayya said Hamas was "ready to make concessions and pay the price of the national Palestinian unity."
Hamas has said it has reservations on the Egyptian proposal, but senior Fatah official Saeb Erekat said Hamas' refusal to cope with the Egyptian efforts was "unjustifiable."
A siren sounded throughout the Gaza Strip to memorialize the Palestinian victims of Israel's Operation Cast Lead.
The Hamas-ordered siren sounded on Sunday at the exact time which Israeli's military operation began in Gaza one year ago, according to reports. Some Gaza residents stood during the sounding of the siren.
Memorial activities are scheduled to last 22 days, the same amount of time as the war in Gaza, according to reports.
Also on Sunday, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is "deeply concerned that neither the issues that led to this conflict nor its worrying aftermath are being addressed."
Ban called on Israel to end the blockade on the coastal strip saying, "The quality and quantity of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza is insufficient, broader economic and reconstruction activity is paralyzed, and the people of Gaza are denied basic human rights."
He added that the fate of the Gazan Palestinians and the well-being of Israelis are "intimately connected."
Meanwhile, an aid convoy headed to Gaza via Egypt was held up in Jordan after being refused permission to enter Egypt.
The Viva Palestina aid convoy, led by British lawmaker George Galloway to mark the anniversary of the start of the Gaza war, is made up of 450 human rights activists and 200 vehicles carrying hundreds of tons of medicine and medical equipment, as well as basic food supplies, according to reports.
It is one of two human rights protests that have vowed to break the Gaza blockade before the first of the year.
Egypt requires the convoy to enter the country through the el-Arish port on the Mediterranean coast and then to enter Gaza through Rafah. This would require entering Israeli waters as well as coordinating entry with the United National Relief and Works Agency. The convoy wants to enter via the Red Sea.
Galloway told reporters Sunday that he is negotiating with Egypt and several third countries.
A second human rights protest, the Gaza Freedom March, is scheduled to take place on December 31.
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