UNITED NATIONS, November 5 (RIA Novosti) — As the Gaza Strip is beginning to emerge from the impact of this summer's 50-day war, the Commissioner-General of UN Relief and Works Agency Pierre Krahenbuhl called on UN member nations on Tuesday to help his mission on reconstruction and disarming the region.
"In these desperate times, with winter approaching, I cannot emphasize enough the imperative need for the beleaguered people of Gaza to see progress on the ground now," Krahenbuhl said.
"To allow this to happen, building sites and rubble also need to be cleared. An urgent task is to secure and destroy a minimum of 7,000 explosive items, including unexploded aircraft bombs and ammunition left in the rubble of buildings. UNMAS, which has been immensely important in helping to secure UNRWA premises and clear over 200 sites, needs a further $2.5 million for the period 2014-15 to continue and complete its work in Gaza," he stressed.
Krahenbuhl said the mission was "shocked" by the killing of over 1,500 civilians in Gaza, including 538 children, 306 women and 11 UNRWA workers since the start of Israel's military operation in Gaza.
"Some 1,500 children have been orphaned, 11,000 people were injured, including 1,000 children who will live the rest of their lives with permanent disabilities. Five civilians in Israel have also been killed," the UN relief chief said.
Turning to attacks on the UN itself Krahenbult said, "shockingly, UNRWA was affected by seven incidents of munitions fired at its schools, three of them with deadly consequences resulting in over 42 deaths and an estimated 200 persons with multiple injuries."
"We have called for investigations and accountability, a call I repeat here today," Krahenbult said, adding aid workers had discovered weapons components hidden in three of UNRWA schools.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has several times said he was going to set up a panel to investigate these issues. On Tuesday, Krahenbuhl said that "the independent Board of Inquiry to be established by the Secretary-General will look at all major incidents that affected UN operations, notably those of UNRWA, during the crisis."
