UN urges Israel to re-open border crossings into Gaza

Palestinians celebrate after trucks carrying medical equipment donated by Jordan crossed into the Gaza Strip through the Erez border crossing January 26, 2009. Some 1,300 Palestinians, including at least 700 civilians, were killed, Palestinian medical officials said, in the offensive Israel launched in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip with the declared aim of ending cross-border rocket attacks.(Ismail Zaydah/Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS-UN humanitarian chief John Holmes appealed to Israel to re-open border crossings into the besieged Gaza Strip to allow delivery of badly needed relief aid in the wake of the devastating 22-day conflict."Israel has a particular responsibility as the occupying power in this context,because of its control of Gaza's borders with Israel,to respect the relevant provisions of international humanitarian law," Holmes told the 15-member UN Security Council during a briefing on his recent visit to the region."It is therefore critical that new steps are taken immediately by the Israeli authorities to move to the sustained re-opening of crossing points," he said.He underscored the importance of improving the living conditions of Gaza's 1.5 million people to avoid further despair and undermining efforts to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.More than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and another 5,300 wounded in Israel's land, sea and air assault on Gaza, which was launched on December 27 to stop Hamas firing rockets at southern Israel and ended January 18.On the Israeli side, three civilians and 10 soldiers were killed in combat and by rocket fire."Everybody stressed the urgency of reopening the crossing points," France's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert, who chairs the council this month, concurred. Speaking to reporters after the briefing, Holmes also said the world body planned to launch a flash appeal next Monday for "several hundred million dollars" to assist the beleaguered Gaza population."We can't really perform that operation fully, none of the (UN) agencies will be able to do that, unless the crossing points are open on a sustained basis not only for humanitarian goods but also for staff and also for commercial goods, and for example cash to enable the economy to flourish," he added.Meanwhile Karen AbuZayd, the commissioner for the UN relief agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), briefed the Security Council on the apparent systematic destruction of schools, universities, residential buildings, factories, shops and farms during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza."Every Gazan projects a sense of having stared death in the face," she said, highlighting the deep resentment felt by Gazans toward the international community for allowing the conflict to go on for so long."There is rage against the attackers for often failing top distinguish between military targets and civilians and there is also resentment against the international community for having allowed first the siege and then the war to go on for so long," she added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090128/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictgazaunaid_20090128002147

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