UN team finds 340 unexploded Israeli bombs in Gaza

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121311&sectionid=351020202


The United Nations Mine Action Team says they have recovered 340 unexploded Israeli bombs and shells, including phosphorous shells, in Gaza.

The unexploded ordnance include 84 white phosphorous shells and seven 1-ton bombs dropped by Israeli aircraft on Gazans during the 22-day assault on the blockaded Gaza Strip from December 2008 to January 2009 Gaza war.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three weeks of Israel's land, sea and air assault in "Operation Cast Lead," at the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gaza economy.

Kerei Ruru of the UN explosives experts team said that they have blown up several Israeli white phosphorous shells.

The detonation was only the second they have carried out as they are trying to rid Gaza of munitions left behind in the Gaza war. The Israeli government is to be blamed for the delays in detonations, he said.

More than a year after the end of the war, unexploded bombs are still leading to casualties in Gaza. Ten Gazans have so far been killed.

Hamas officials are also keeping their own stockpiles of unexploded ordnance, Ruru said.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently said that it will open an investigation into Israel's alleged use of depleted uranium during its 22-day assault in the Gaza Strip.

In a 71-page report, the Human Rights Watch last March accused Israel of indiscriminate phosphorus use in Gaza.

It said the repeated use of air-burst white phosphorus artillery shells in populated areas of Gaza was not incidental or accidental, but revealed “a pattern or policy of conduct”.

It said the Israeli military used white phosphorus in a “deliberate or reckless” way.
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UN Chief visits Gaza amid Israeli siege



Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121327&sectionid=351020202


The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in the besieged Gaza Strip as part of his two-day tour of the Middle East.

Before heading to Gaza, Ban said by visiting the region he aims to express solidarity with the Palestinians living in the coastal enclave and their strife.

The UN chief also highlighted the need to end the blockade that Israel has imposed on the strip.

While in Jerusalem (al-Quds) on Saturday, Ban criticized Israeli officials for subjecting Palestinian civilians to what he called unacceptable hardships.

Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip ever since the Hamas movement won a large majority in the 2006 legislative elections.

The illegal Israeli-imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including the freedom of movement and the rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.

This is Ban's second visit to Gaza after the deadly 22-day offensive that the Israeli military carried in the coastal region back in 2008-2009.

Three weeks of Israeli air strikes and a ground incursion into Gaza between Late December 2008 and early January 2009 resulted in the death of over 1,400 Palestinians and the injury of about 5,450 people in the Gaza Strip. Most of the victims were civilians.

The carnage also inflicted more than $1.6 billion of damage on Gaza's economy.