PRESS RELEASE: UN Coordinator calls for international support for Gaza
- Details
- Written by UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities
- Published: 31 August 2016 31 August 2016
Gaza, 31 August 2016
Following a visit today to the occupied Gaza Strip with diplomats from Australia, Belgium, Canada, the EU, and the UK, the UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid and Development Activities, Robert Piper, called for increased diplomatic and donor action to reduce reliance on aid, increase respect for international law and accelerate recovery and reconstruction.
“This week two years ago, Palestinians in Gaza were breathing a sigh of relief following 51 days of hostilities that left over 1,450 civilian deaths, more than 11,000 injuries and two million tons of rubble in its wake,” recalled Mr. Piper, “Today, many of the physical damages have been repaired, once again, but the horizon remains bleak as Gaza’s isolation enters its tenth consecutive year”.
In Beit Hanoun, the delegation heard from some of the 65,000 Palestinians who remain displaced, two years later, as well as from the victims and families on their expectations for accountability for violations of international humanitarian law that occurred during the hostilities.
Read more: PRESS RELEASE: UN Coordinator calls for international support for Gaza