WASHINGTON: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel yesterday to swiftly allow food, aid and fuel supply lines to be opened for Gaza, highlighting the suffering of local people there.
“The secretary-general is deeply concerned at the deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in Gaza and southern Israel, and at the potential for further suffering and violence. He calls on all parties to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law,” a statement from Ban said.
Ban “is concerned that food and other life-saving assistance are being denied to hundreds of thousands of people, and emphasizes that measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and should cease immediately,” it stressed.
“In particular, he calls on Israel to allow urgently, the steady and sufficient supply of fuel and humanitarian assistance. He also calls on Israel to resume facilitating the activities of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and all humanitarian agencies, including through unimpeded access for UN officials and humanitarian workers,” the statement added.
Ban’s remarks came as violence flared again around Gaza yesterday, wounding two militants and an Israeli woman and putting a five-month-old truce in jeopardy as UN food handouts to the Hamas-ruled strip ground to a halt.
The UN chief “reiterates his condemnation of rocket attacks. He calls for an end to such attacks and urges full respect by all parties of the calm that has been in effect since June 19, 2008,” the statement said.
