Israel out of Gaza, UN wants all crossings open
Israel and Hamas accepted a ceasefire on Sunday, but shots were reportedly fired into Israel leading to Israeli navy ships firing rounds of machine-gun fire into Gaza.
Israeli troops will remain along the border of the Gaza Strip to respond to any new attack by Islamic militants, an Israeli military spokesman said.
In New York, John Holmes, the United Nations’ top official for humanitarian affairs, called on Israel to open all border crossings with Gaza to let in emergency and reconstruction aid.
According to the truce only humanitarian aid like food and medicine are authorised into the territory.
The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited Gaza yesterday, voicing shock at the “heartbreaking” devastation. He said attacks against some UN buildings (pictured) were “outrageous”.
For its part Israel blamed Hamas for the destruction, saying the latter used civilian homes and UN buildings to attack Israeli forces in order to draw fire.
The UN secretary general later visited Sderot, one of the main targets of Hamas rocket attacks in recent years, where he described Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians “appalling,” a violation of basic humanitarian law.
Meanwhile Palestinian medical sources in Gaza said that at least 1,300 Palestinians were killed, including 700 civilians and many children. Israel suffered 13 dead, three of them civilians.
The United Nations estimates that US$ 330 million are needed to meet Gaza’s most pressing needs. Costs for reconstruction should top US$ 2 billion.
However, there are two major obstacles: Israel’s border controls, which slow down the flow of goods, and the international boycott of Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organisation.
Yesterday Ban Ki-moon urged the Palestinians to patch up their political differences within Abbas's Palestinian Authority in order to realise their hopes of statehood and make peace with Israel.
.png)
