Jan 20, 10:18 AM EST
UN chief condemns rocket attacks on Israel
AP Photo
AP Photo/JERRY LAMPEN
UN chief condemns rocket attacks on Israel
SDEROT, Israel (AP) -- U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon says Palestinian rocket attacks
on southern Israel are appalling and unacceptable.
During a trip to the rocket-scarred Israeli town of Sderot, Ban said the
projectiles are indiscriminate weapons, and Hamas attacks are violations of
basic humanitarian law. However, he also urged Israel to end its crippling
blockade of Gaza. He says the embargo will only strengthen Hamas by fueling
desperation in impoverished Gaza.
Ban was touring Israel and Gaza on Tuesday in the wake of a deadly Israeli
offensive in Gaza. Israel launched the operation to end years of rocket fire on
Sderot and other southern towns.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's
earlier story is below.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The U.N. chief inspected the devastation wrought
by Israel's onslaught in Gaza on Tuesday, leading a moment of silence at the
smoldering U.N. headquarters, as the territory's militant Hamas rulers,
triumphant at having survived, held victory rallies amid the ruins.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, appearing stern and saddened at a ceremony at
the burned out U.N. headquarters in Gaza, demanded an Israeli investigation
into strikes on United Nations facilities. Ban asked the crowd to observe a
moment of silence for victims of the offensive, who included nearly 40
Palestinians who had sought refuge at a U.N. school shelled by Israel.
"It has been especially troubling and heartbreaking for me as secretary-general
that I couldn't end this faster," he said. He warned the truce is fragile, and
called on Israel and Hamas to "exercise maximum restraint and nurture the
cease-fire."
Thousands of Hamas supporters thronged a square outside the remains of the
parliament building in Gaza City, which was heavily damaged in an Israeli
airstrike at the outset of the war. Two men hoisted a sign in carefully
scripted Hebrew reading, "The resistance will be victorious, Israel has been
defeated."
Israel and Hamas both ceased fire on Sunday, after an offensive that claimed
the lives of some 1,300 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, and
13 Israelis. The last of Israel's ground troops were expected to pull out of
Gaza on Tuesday if the quiet holds, defense officials said.
Israel mounted an air and ground offensive against Hamas on Dec. 27 in an
effort to force Gaza militants to halt their rocket fire on southern Israel and
to cripple arms-smuggling operations. The fighting stopped before Israel
achieved those aims.
The U.N. chief personally intervened to try to stop the war, and said over the
weekend that he was sending a team to assess the humanitarian needs so the
United Nations could issue an emergency appeal for funds.
Calling the crisis a "collective political failure," Ban said he would share
the findings of his trip to Gaza with world leaders, including incoming
President Barack Obama.
The first estimates by independent surveyors said Gaza lost nearly $2 billion
in assets, including 4,100 homes, about 1,500 factories and workshops, 20
mosques, 31 security compounds, and 10 water or sewage lines. Shattered glass
and mounds of rubble littered city streets.
Ban called the attacks on the U.N. headquarters and two of its schools
"outrageous" and demanded a full investigation through proper judiciary
systems. He also demanded guarantees it would never happen again.
Israel has said militants used the U.N. buildings as cover to launch attacks,
but the military has launched its own investigation.
Homeowners digging through the debris in Gaza City, the territory's largest
city, carried off vases, refrigerators, dishes and baby beds, some loading
their goods into cars and trucks. Utility crews began planning repairs to
electrical and sewage and water systems. A senior technician, Mofid Awad, said
80 percent of the electricity grid in Gaza City was damaged.
Before setting off for Gaza, Ban met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert,
who told him Hamas could not be allowed to lead the reconstruction process in
Gaza and thereby gain some measure of legitimacy, Olmert's office said in a
statement.
The U.N. and international organizations must lead the reconstruction in
conjunction with the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, which has been mediating
between Israel and Hamas, Olmert said.
Ban said his discussions with Olmert focused on withdrawing all Israeli troops
from Gaza and how to open Gaza's border crossings.
Ban is the most senior international official to visit Gaza since Hamas
militants seized power in June 2007. The Hamas government is not
internationally recognized, and Ban was not scheduled to meet with the group,
which is regarded by Western powers and Israel as a terrorist organization.
After visiting Gaza, Ban was scheduled to travel to the rocket-scarred Israeli
town of Sderot. A false alarm of an incoming rocket in southern Israel earlier
in the day set off fears that the shaky truce hadn't even lasted two full days.
The military reported that a mortar was fired later, but apparently fell short
of Israeli territory.
Palestinians and human rights workers reported that Israeli troops have shot to
death two Gaza farmers since the truce took hold, including a 20-year-old man
killed in northern Gaza on Tuesday. The military had no comment on that report.
As Ban marshaled a global response to the suffering in Gaza, Hamas was busy
planning nine victory rallies across Gaza.
Although Israel scored a decisive battleground victory, Hamas claims its own
victory because it managed to withstand the intense Israeli assault and fired
hundreds of rockets into the Jewish state throughout the fighting.
In a sign the militant group remained in control in Gaza, Hamas security teams
in uniforms patrolled Gaza City.
"With full trust and full confidence I say the Palestinian people and the
heroic resistance have won this battle," Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas official,
said Monday. "Hamas today is stronger than any time before. ... The loser is
the occupation."
Thousands of Hamas supporters turned out to celebrate in the southern Gaza town
of Khan Younis, raising their forefingers in the air as a sign of the their
loyalty to the militant group, and waving the movement's iconic green flag.
Bearded organizers in yellow vests kept the crowd in order and pro-Hamas music
blared from loudspeakers.
Around 800 people showed up for a pro-Hamas demonstration in the northern Gazan
town of Beit Lahiya, the site of heavy fighting.
"For us, this was a victory," said Mohammed Abu Awad, 24, a university student.
But the owner of a coffee stand located near the Gaza City rally criticized the
festivities, given the steep Palestinian death toll.
"We can't talk about real victory because there were thousands of martyrs and
we didn't liberate anything," said Jawdat Abu Nahel. "It's no time for a
parade."
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dungu, buas, kejam, keji, ganas, zalim lagi biadab hanyalah Allah fiktif.
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