Envoy informs UN of recovery priorities

A government envoy details the humanitarian and rebuilding aid the people of Gaza will need after Israel's military onslaught, and says the Emirates has committed fully to the relief effort.

NEW YORK // A government envoy has detailed humanitarian and rebuilding aid the people of Gaza will need after Israel's military onslaught, and said the Emirates had committed fully to the relief effort. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Ahmed al Jarman, the UAE ambassador to the world body, said rebuilding hospitals and schools were priorities in the Palestinian territory.

Mr al Jarman referred delegates to an emergency fund-raising meeting organised by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE, president of the UAE Red Crescent Authority and chairman of the Foreign Aid Co-ordination Office, in Abu Dhabi last Monday. "The UAE has indeed started assuming its humanitarian responsibilities as a member of the group of donors to the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, by working in order to provide urgent and emergency assistance to the Palestinians of Gaza," Mr al Jarman told delegates on Thursday.

"We are gravely concerned about the continuation of violence and the human suffering of the people of Gaza, and we express our solidarity with them in their plight and stand ready to deploy every effort possible to alleviate their suffering and put an end to their tragedy." Palestinian surveyors have said the first 15 days of Israeli attacks destroyed at least US$1.4 billion (Dh5.1bn) worth of buildings, roads, pipes, power lines and other infrastructure in the impoverished territory.

Speaking on the 20th day of Israel's offensive, Mr al Jarman criticised its "excessive use of force and internationally banned weapons to bomb houses of civilians". He highlighted the death toll of more than 1,150 and the women and children who make up 40 per cent of those killed, and the more than 5,000 injured and tens of thousands displaced by the violence. He urged world powers to force Israel to comply with the Security Council resolution passed on Jan 8, which called for an immediate ceasefire, withdrawal of troops and the opening of Gaza's borders to aid deliveries.

Mr al Jarman also voiced support for a decision by the Human Rights Council in Geneva to investigate Israel's violations of international law and human rights law in Gaza, "bringing those responsible to justice". "It is our hope that the current diplomatic initiatives, the international and regional efforts that are currently being deployed, end positively and put an end to the tragic situation in Gaza," he said.

The UAE was one of more than 70 nations listed to address the two-day emergency session of the General Assembly on Gaza that was requested by the 118-member non-aligned movement. Israel tried to block the session on procedural grounds by arguing that, under the UN Charter, the assembly cannot meet on a matter already being considered by the Security Council. The complaint was dismissed and the assembly's president, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua, accused Israel of violating international law by pressing on with its military assault on the Gaza Strip.