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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

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