UN chief visits devastated Gaza

GAZA – Voicing shock at stark scenes of destruction, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip yesterday, and Israel was poised to withdraw its troops before the US presidential inauguration later in the day.

Ban, on a Middle East tour, was the highest-ranking international figure to visit the territory since separately declared ceasefires by Israel and Hamas ended a 22-day Israeli offensive and Palestinian cross-border rocket attacks.
‘I have seen only a fraction of the destruction. This is shocking and alarming,’ Ban said, condemning the ‘excessive use’ of force by Israel and militants’ rocket salvoes.
‘These are heartbreaking scenes I have seen and I am deeply grieved by what I have seen today,’ he told a news conference held against a backdrop of still smoldering food aid in a UN warehouse set ablaze by Israeli gunfire last Thursday.
Echoing his comments at the time, Ban called the Israeli attack on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency compound outrageous and demanded an investigation.
Israel apologised after the incident but said its forces were responding to shooting from gunmen at the United Nations Relief and Works (UNRWA) facility.
Hamas held a rally outside the compound during Ban’s visit, calling for international recognition of its Gaza-based government.
The United Nations and other members of the ‘Quartet’ of Middle East mediators – the United States, the European Union and Russia – have said there could be no dealings with Hamas until it recognised Israel, renounced violence and accepted existing interim peace deals.
Ban called for Palestinian reconciliation and said the UN would work with any united Palestinian government to rebuild the Gaza Strip.
Israeli political sources said Israel planned to complete its troop pullout before Barack Obama’s inauguration, scheduled for 12 p.m. EST. Analysts saw the withdrawal as an effort to avoid any tension with the new U.S. president.
Many Palestinians returned to the rubble of what used to be their homes in Gaza city suburbs that were hard hit during the fighting. They picked through debris, trying to salvage belongings. – Nampa-Reuters