UNRWA: Israeli war on Gaza continuation of siege

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Filippo Grandi, the deputy commissioner general of UNRWA, has told a conference in Cairo that the Israeli war on Gaza was not a new phenomenon but rather a continuation of the Israeli policy of besieging the Strip since mid 2007. Grandi, speaking at the inauguration of the 81st conference for supervisors of Palestinian refugees in host Arab countries that opened in the Arab League premises on Cairo on Sunday, said that the war was an escalatory step in the Israeli siege policy. He pointed to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's visit to the Strip for the first time and his declared regret at the destruction caused to the UNRWA sites. Grandi stressed that the Israeli aggression had greatly harmed the infrastructure and all life utilities in the Gaza Strip including electricity and water and the losses reached unprecedented figures, and added that even UNRWA warehouses were targeted. The UN official said that what was destroyed could be repaired but the problem remains with the children who suffered enormously as a result of the loss of their relatives or colleagues. He said that the UN investigation into the destruction of UNRWA premises and schools should be expedited.