By KUNA
Brussels : The head of the U.N. agency responsible for aiding Palestinian refugees rejected Wednesday an Israeli plan to set up “humanitarian corridors” in case of a bigger Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip.
“We would refuse to engage in that discussion and there are many people who would have a lot of objection to that,” Karen Koning Abuzayd, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) told a conference in Brussels this evening.
She pointed out that aid agencies were dependent on Israel for their work.
Press reports from Jerusalem on Tuesday said Israel has asked U.N. aid agencies how long it would take them to set up “humanitarian corridors” from Egypt to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in the event of a broad Israeli offensive.
Quoting unnamed Israeli officials the report said the assessments were part of Israel’s stepped up “contingency planning” should such an operation be ordered.
Abuzayd painted a grim picture of life in the Gaza Strip saying words cannot convey the suffering in Gaza where 80 percent of the population is dependent on humanitarian aid.
She noted that 118 Palestinians, half of them civilians including 28 children were killed in the recent Israeli bombardments and aerial attacks, while 3 Israelis including two soldiers were killed by Palestinian rocket attacks.