UN announces 613 mln dollar appeal for Gaza
SWITZERLAND: The United Nations will launch an appeal for 613
million dollars to help those affected by Israel’s 22-day offensive in
Gaza, UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said Thursday.
“These needs are massive and multi-faceted,” he told delegates
attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, adding that funds can “help
overcome at least some measures of this hardship.”
John Holmes, who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the money would be used to provide
food, shelter, healthcare and other assistance.
An assessment is being made on long-term needs, including
reconstruction of damaged homes, said OCHA.
Holmes and Ban also called for Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian
territory of 1.5 million people to be lifted to allow in the necessary
humanitarian assistance.
“We’re asking for the crossing points to be opened fully....
Otherwise, we won’t be able to achieve what we want to achieve,” said
Holmes.
A ceasefire was declared by Israel on January 18, but Israeli forces
launched an air strike on Thursday on a border area of the Gaza Strip
after Palestinian militants fired a missile.
Referring to the attack, Ban said it demonstrated that the “ceasefire
is very fragile” and that it made it more necessary than ever to “make
this ceasefire a durable one.”
Israel’s war on Gaza killed 1,330 people, at least half of them
civilians, and wounded 5,450 others, Palestinian medics said Thursday in
a final toll of the offensive.
Among the dead were 437 children under 16, 110 women, 123 elderly
men, 14 medics and four journalists, according to Muawiya Hassanein, the
head of Gaza medical services.
The wounded include 1,890 children and 200 people in serious
condition, he said. Six hundred injured people have been transferred
outside Gaza for treatment.
Israel unleashed its Operation Cast Lead on the Hamas rulers of the
Gaza Strip on December 27 in response to rocket fire from the territory.
On the Israeli side, three civilians and 10 soldiers died in combat and
rocket strikes and dozens were wounded, according to official figures.
DAVOS, Friday, AFP |