UN launches appeal for $613m in aid for Gaza victims

The United Nations yesterday launched an emergency appeal for $613 million to help Palestinians recover from Israel's three-week offensive on the Gaza Strip.

At the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that aid for Gaza victims was urgently needed. He said he was deeply moved by his visit to Gaza and gave his word that the UN would help recruit funds.

According to Ban, the appeal covers the requirements of UN and other aid organizations for the next six to nine months and will help provide everything from medical care to clean water.

The Israeli offensive in Gaza killed nearly 1,300 Palestinians. The UN estimates at least 5,300 people were wounded and 21,000 homes were destroyed or badly damaged.

Ban told reporters at the World Economic Forum that an appeal for longer-term needs would be launched later.

"The civilian population suffered greatly during three weeks of military operations," he said. "More than one-third of the 6,600 deaths and injured were children and women. As a father of three, I was especially troubled by the suffering and trauma that so many families went through."

Ban - the first world leader to enter Gaza since an Israeli blockade of the territory in June 2007 - said failure to act urgently will lead to even greater humanitarian calamity.

"People have lost their families, they have lost their homes, belongings, and livelihoods. Schools, clinics, factories and businesses have been destroyed," he said. "Many people are living amid raw sewage."

Ban said he was encouraged that the United States and some European countries had agreed to try to prevent the smuggling of illicit arms and weapons from the wider region into Gaza again, which otherwise would allow Hamas to use the cease-fire to strengthen itself.

"That's a very serious issue," Ban said.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said some $92 million of the aid would be delivered in the form of either cash for work or cash assistance.