The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 1/23/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Anja Niedringhaus The Associated Press A Palestinian man washes his face in a broken water pipe line in Jebaliya, northern Gaza strip, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes, on the first day of a five-day trip to the region, called the steep Palestinian casualty toll "extremely shocking" and suggested the United Nations might ask Israel to compensate it for wartime damage to U.N. compounds in Gaza, but that he was looking at immediate humanitarian needs and thinking about longer-term reconstruction in Gaza.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - The United Nations will quickly raise money for emergency repairs in the Gaza Strip, the world body's humanitarian chief promised Thursday after witnessing what he called shocking destruction from the three-week war between Israel and Hamas.

But U.N. aid chief John Holmes and another senior U.N. official acknowledged they have no fallback plan if reconstruction is snagged by the power struggle between Gaza's militant Hamas rulers and their moderate Palestinian rivals in the West Bank.

Hamas, which seized power in Gaza by force in June 2007, insisted Thursday that it will not share control over reconstruction projects that initial estimates have said could cost up to $2 billion.

The international community, however, is reluctant to funnel huge sums to Hamas, calling for the group for the group to form a joint government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Prospects for such a deal remain slim.

Israel has said one of the key objectives of its offensive against Hamas was to halt weapons smuggling. Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at southern Israel over the past eight years, and Israel says most of the weapons and explosives came in through smugglers' tunnels from Egypt.

Any cease-fire deal will be durable only if the basic demands of both sides are met. Israel insists on anti-smuggling guarantees, while Hamas wants open Gaza borders to ensure delivery of vital supplies.

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