Days of Palestine, Gaza –A senior UN official has warned Monday there would be no end in sight to the fighting in the Gaza Strip unless Israel lifts the eight-year old blockade.
Top UN humanitarian official for the Palestinian territories James Rawley made the comments during a visit to the Gaza City.
Rawley said the crippling blockade must be removed to let the people of Gaza rebuild the war-torn city and trade with the outside world.
“The blockade must be lifted not only to get material into Gaza in order to rebuild it but to allow Gaza to do what it was doing very well just 10 years ago, to trade with the outside world,” said Rawley
The UN official warned that if the Israeli occupation does not end the siege, another round of fighting was “likely.”
“Not only will we see very little in the way of reconstruction,” said he, “but I am afraid that the conditions are in place for us to have another round of violence like we’re seeing now.”
The official severely criticised the international community for failing to protect the Palestinians during more than a month of Israeli war on Gaza.
He noted that the Israeli strikes destroyed over 10,000 houses and a large portion of Gaza’s industry, adding that nearly half of Gaza’s agricultural land has been destroyed, leaving nearly 300,000 people without work.
In addition, he said that 500,000 people, a third of Gaza’s population, are displaced within the besieged enclave.
The Israeli occupations killed in the ongoing war around 2,000 Palestinians, including 470 children, have so far been killed and nearly 10,000 others injured.
According to Israeli sources, 67 Israelis were killed, including 64 soldiers and only three civilians in the war. Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas puts the number at more than 150.
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