Middle East News
UN: Situation in Gaza unsustainable for Palestinians
Jan 27, 2010, 18:52 GMT
New York - Failure to address the Hamas-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip that ended a year ago has created unstable living conditions and a sense of hopelessness for the Palestinian people, the UN said Wednesday.
The UN had proposed a dialogue on the origin and aftermath of the December 2008-January 2009 conflict and voiced concern that the proposal was not taken up a year later.
Hamas continued to hold control over Gaza, which has a population of 1.5 million, with no elections held on Monday, the scheduled election date, for the Palestinian Authority. President Mahmoud Abbas had decided to step down.
'We continue to support the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority,' said Oscar Fernando-Taranco, the UN assistant secretary general for political affairs. He was addressing the monthly UN Security Council session on the Middle East.
He called for free and fair election to be held in Palestinian territory. The Palestine Liberation Organization has extended the mandate of the president and legislature until elections can be held.
Fernando-Tarranco told the 15-nation council that there had been a 'notable increase' in violence throughout January between Gaza and Israel. He said 70 projectiles of different sorts were fired at Israel, of which 19 hit targets in the country. Israel conducted 20 incursions into and launched 11 airstrikes against Gaza.
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