UN aid to Gaza halted due to attacks

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-10-2009 08:59

The United Nations has halted aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, citing Israeli attacks on its staff and installations. The decision emptied the Karni Crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip on Friday morning.

A Palestinian boy sits on food aid received from the United  Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) at the refugee camp  of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt.  The main UN agency operating in the Gaza Strip halted its  operations on Thursday after an attack on a truck convoy  and amid mounting calls for Israel to abide by international  humanitarian law.(AFP/Said Khatib)

The attack on the UN truck took place during a three-hour lull in the violence announced by the Israeli military. The UN says gunfire from an Israeli tank killed one of its drivers as he was picking up a shipment.

Two Palestinian workers were also killed.

Meanwhile an Israeli Defence Force spokesman says that the "assumption" that the driver was killed by Israeli military fire is "not necessarily accurate."

Eli Isacson, Israeli Defence Force spokesman, said, "Well, there is no accurate information to that effect at the moment, there have been claims that he was killed by IDF gunfire. We've also heard claims to the contrary. There is no accurate information available at the moment.

He says Israel is investigating the incident.

The UN offices in Gaza City were also closed on Friday. The United Nations has already demanded an investigation into Israel's shelling of a UN school in Gaza that killed nearly 40 people earlier this week.

On Friday, the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. But an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early on Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.

The Security Council resolution was approved on Thursday night by a 14-0 vote, with the United States abstaining.

Editor:Zhang Ning