Middle East News
UN condemns burning of children's summer camp in Gaza
Jun 29, 2010, 2:05 GMT
New York/Gaza - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned on Monday the destruction of a summer camp for Palestinian refugee children in the Gaza Strip by masked militants.
'Such an attack is an assault on the wellbeing of Gaza's children,' UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said on Ban's behalf. He said summer camps in the territory are attended by some 250,000 children each year.
'The secretary general calls upon the de facto authorities (in Gaza) to combat any incitement against United Nations operations and ensure the safety of UNRWA and other UN personnel and programmes serving the most vulnerable in Gaza,' Nesirky said.
Ban called on those authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice, Nesirky said.
In Gaza, Adnan Abu Hasna, a spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) told reporters that at dawn masked militants tied up the guard at the camp, before setting it ablaze. He gave no further information, except to say the camp was empty when targeted.
The attack was the second time this month in which unidentified assailants vandalized an UNRWA camp. The aid organization inaugurated its camps earlier this month, despite sharp criticism from Islamic groups, which accused the camps of 'teaching debauchery'.
UNRWA and the Islamist Hamas movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, compete with each other in attempting to attract children to their summer camps.
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