UNRWA: Israeli war on Gaza continuation of siege

[ 26/01/2009 - 04:27 PM ]

CAIRO, (PIC)--

Filippo Grandi, the deputy commissioner general of UNRWA, has told a conference in Cairo that the Israeli war on Gaza was not a new phenomenon but rather a continuation of the Israeli policy of besieging the Strip since mid 2007.

Grandi, speaking at the inauguration of the 81st conference for supervisors of Palestinian refugees in host Arab countries that opened in the Arab League premises on Cairo on Sunday, said that the war was an escalatory step in the Israeli siege policy.

He pointed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's visit to the Strip for the first time and his declared regret at the destruction caused to the UNRWA sites.

Grandi stressed that the Israeli aggression had greatly harmed the infrastructure and all life utilities in the Gaza Strip including electricity and water and the losses reached unprecedented figures, and added that even UNRWA warehouses were targeted.

The UN official said that what was destroyed could be repaired but the problem remains with the children who suffered enormously as a result of the loss of their relatives or colleagues.

He said that the UN investigation into the destruction of UNRWA premises and schools should be expedited.

Khudari: Opening crossings, ending siege only road to reconstruct Gaza

[ 26/01/2009 - 04:14 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

MP Jamal Al-Khudari, the head of the popular anti siege committee, has asserted that no reconstruction of Gaza is possible without opening all crossings and ending the siege.

Khudari, during a meeting with a number of delegations from Turkey, Greece and other European countries, said that the world community should pressure Israel into opening crossings in its capacity as an inalienable Palestinian right and the only means to return life to normalcy in Gaza.

He said that the declared estimates for the cost of reconstructing Gaza were preliminary, pointing to the huge devastation that engulfed the Strip on all levels.

The MP noted that the Israeli shelling and aggression did not spare factories, infrastructure, houses, government buildings, schools, universities and agricultural lands.

Israel is still continuing its violations of all international laws and doctrines through its closure of crossings and siege, Khudari underlined.

Swiss MPs: We witnessed systematic destruction that was beyond our expectation

[ 26/01/2009 - 12:38 PM ]

BRUSSELS, (PIC)--

A Swiss parliamentary delegation has expressed shock at the sight of the vast destruction inflicted by the Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip during three weeks of merciless attacks.

Anwar Al-Gharbi, the spokesman of the European campaign to lift the siege on Gaza that organized the visit in cooperation with a Swiss society, said that the delegates who arrived in Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Saturday toured the Strip and visited the Shifa hospital and the destroyed premises of the Palestinian legislative council over two days.

He said that the destruction was beyond the imagination of those delegates, adding that all vowed to convey what they have seen to the world and pledged to expose the IOF "war crimes".

Gharbi pointed out that the delegates would pressure for bringing those responsible for that destruction to an international tribunal, and added that the lawmakers have expressed rejection of Israeli detention of elected PLC members atop of whom came the speaker Dr. Aziz Dwaik.