A/HRC/12/48 page 71 264. On 22 December 2008, a 24-hour ceasefire was declared at Egypt’s request. Three rockets and one mortar were launched from Gaza that day. Israel opened the border to allow a limited amount of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.148 265. By 23 December 2008, rocket and mortar fire was again increasing significantly; 30 rockets and 30 mortars were fired into Israel on 24 December 2008.149 The Israeli armed forces continued to conduct air strikes on positions inside Gaza and the crossings into Israel remained closed. On 26 December 2008, a rocket launched from Gaza fell short and hit a house in northern Gaza killing two girls, aged 5 and 12.150 266. The intensified closure regime on the Gaza crossings which began in November continued in December, with imports restricted to very basic food items and limited amounts of fuel, animal feed and medical supplies. According to OCHA, many basic food items were no longer available and negligible amounts of fuel were allowed to enter Gaza. This resulted in the health sector in Gaza deteriorating further into a critical condition, with hospitals continuing to face problems as a result of power cuts, low stocks of fuel to operate back-up generators, lack of spare parts for medical equipment and shortages of consumables and medical supplies.151 On 18 December 2008, UNRWA once again suspended its food distribution programme for the rest of the month, owing to shortages.152 267. On 27 December 2008, Israel started its military operations in Gaza.153 IV. APPLICABLE LAW 268. The Mission’s mandate covers all violations of international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) that might have been committed at any time, whether before, during or after, in the context of the military operations that were conducted in Gaza during the period from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009. The Mission has therefore carried out its task within the framework of general international law, in particular IHRL and IHL. A. Self-determination 269. A fundamental element in the legal framework is the principle of self-determination of peoples, derived from the Charter of the United Nations, Article 1, accepted as constituting JTA, “Hamas curtails launching rockets for 24 hours”, 22 December 2008, available at: http://jta.org/news/ article-print/2008/12/22/1001726/hamas-stops-lauching-rockets-for-24-hours?TB_iframe=true&width= 750&height=500; “Summary of rocket fire…”. 148 149 “Summary of rocket fire…”. Fox News, “Palestinian rockets kill 2 schoolgirls in Gaza”, 26 December 2008, available at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,473066,00.html. 150 OCHA, The Humanitarian Monitor, No. 32 (December 2008), available at: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_humanitarian_monitor_2008_12_1_15_english.pdf. 151 UNRWA, “UNRWA suspends food distribution in Gaza”, press release (18 December 2008), available at: http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/releases/pr-2008/gaz_18dec08.html. 152 The New York Times, “Israelis say strikes against Hamas will continue”, 28 December 2008, available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/world/middleeast/28mideast.html?_r=2&hp. 153