Gaylard: The Israeli siege thwarts UN efforts to help Gazans

NEW YORK, (PIC)– UN humanitarian coordinator Maxwell Gaylard stated Thursday that the continued Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip hinders the efforts made by the UN and its partners to help the Palestinians in the post-war Strip.

Gaylard told a news conference in New York that the UN is ready to move forward with reconstruction and other efforts as soon as Israeli restrictions on the access of vital materials are lifted.

He recalled that the Israeli war destroyed about 4,000 homes and caused damages to the same number of homes, adding that the donor countries made pledges of several billion dollars for Gaza reconstruction, but no work has been carried out so far.

As for the West Bank, Gaylard also said that there will be no economic development in the West Bank until movement and access is eased, adding that there are some 630 barricades impeding movement there.

In another context, the government committee for breaking the siege said that the European “Hope” convoy handed aid to the Noor society for the blind affiliated with the UNRWA in Gaza.

The committee added that the delegation of the “Hope” convoy left Gaza after they handed medical aid to the hospitals of Shifa and Nasser, visited a number of humanitarian and charitable institutions and met with prisoners’ families and war victims.

Head of the convoy Fernando Rossi had stated, during a visit to the Wafa rehabilitation hospital, that the efforts to help the besieged Gaza people would continue, asserting that the convoy members would leave Gaza, but they would do a lot for Gaza upon their arrival in their countries.