HAMAS VOWS TO PROTECT UN PREMISES IN GAZA

photo: MEMO — Hamas described the attack on the United Nations’ offices in the Gaza Strip as “unacceptable”, stressing that it will not allow any further assaults on the international organisation’s offices in the enclave.(Photo: MEMO)

Gaza, 10 Rabi’ul Akhir 1436/31 January 2015 (MINA) – Hamas described the attack on the United Nations’ offices in the Gaza Strip as “unacceptable”, stressing that it will not allow any further assaults on the international organization’s offices in the enclave.

A senior member of Hamas’s political bureau, Mousa Abu-Marzouk said in a statement yesterday that the actions of protesters who stormed UNRWA’s offices in Gaza were “unacceptable”, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting, Friday.

Abu-Marzouk said the security services in Gaza will put an end to “these abuses” and will not allow them to happen again.

“The security services in Gaza are responsible for protecting international staff and providing for them,” he added.

However, he added: “Displaced Palestinians were frustrated by the United Nations’ shortcomings and this caused them to attack UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza.”

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the peace process in the Middle East Robert Serry threatened to “conduct an urgent review of United Nations operations in the Gaza Strip, in response to angry Palestinians storming of UNRWA headquarters in the enclave.”

In a statement yesterday, the UN said that Hamas is fully responsibility for the safety and security of all United Nations personnel and operations in Gaza.

On Wednesday (28/1), angry Palestinians stormed the UN headquarters in the Gaza Strip over its decision to suspend aid.

UNRWA announced on Tuesday (27/1) that it will stop providing financial aid to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed during the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in the summer last year “due to lack of funding”.

It said that it received only $135 million out of the $724 million it had requested during the Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo, warning that displaced families might have to experience displacement for a second time due to lack of funding.

According to UN data, the Israeli war caused the displacement of some 100,000 Palestinians, a majority of them are staying with relatives or renting homes, while another 15,000 are staying in UNRWA schools which are being used as shelters.(T/P008/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)