UN pledges to rebuild Gaza for ‘last time’
7 Aug 2014 11:16 PM GMT
The United Nations is ready to help rebuild Gaza but for the last time, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned on Wednesday. Ban opened a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal for a lasting peace as a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding for a second day. ‘The senseless cycle of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Israel must end,’ he told the 193-nation assembly. After three wars in Gaza in six years, the UN secretary general warned that the world’s patience with the Israelis and the Palestinians was being tested.
‘Do we have to continue like this - build, destroy, and build and destroy?’ Ban asked. ‘We will build again but this must be the last time -- to rebuild. This must stop now.’ Four weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip has killed 1,875 Palestinians and 67 Israelis, with nearly half of Gaza’s 1.8 million people driven from their homes.
‘Do we have to continue like this - build, destroy, and build and destroy?’ Ban asked. ‘We will build again but this must be the last time -- to rebuild. This must stop now.’ Four weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip has killed 1,875 Palestinians and 67 Israelis, with nearly half of Gaza’s 1.8 million people driven from their homes.
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