UN's Gaza 'time bomb' warning

Western nations last week pledged $500m (o263m) in aid to the Palestinians as the UN humanitarian chief warned an economic crisis meant the Gaza strip was a "ticking time bomb".

A total of $114m will be spent on humanitarian aid. The remaining money will be used to meet a shortfall in UN emergency funding and to cover the reconstruction of infrastructure. Some of the money will be used to rebuild the power plant in Gaza that was bombed by the Israelis two months ago, at the beginning of an ongoing military operation which has so far claimed the lives of more than 200 Palestinians.

The fighting followed the capture by militants of an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, who is still being held. An economic crisis has been brewing since January, when the militant movement Hamas was elected into government in the Palestinian territories.

Israel stopped passing on its regular custom duties to the Palestinians and western donors stopped giving money because of Hamas's status as a terrorist organisation. Jan Egeland, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator, said that the people of Gaza were "living in a cage". Israel says it has closed border crossings for security reasons, but the closures were "crippling their economy", said Mr Egeland.

Poverty level

"There is not enough electricity, there is not enough water. There are social conditions on an intolerable level at the moment." The UN says nearly 80% of Gaza lives in poverty. "For me, Gaza is a time bomb.

It cannot continue like this without an enormous social explosion. "So we need more money but we need also a political solution to this war. I've never seen so much hatred and bitterness as during my last visit there."

The Palestinian prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, yesterday tried to head off a major strike planned for today by tens of thousands of Palestinian Authority employees, including many teachers. None of the 160,000 Palestinian civil servants has been paid since March because of the halt in funding.

In southern Lebanon a first contingent of 880 Italian troops will arrive today, increasing the size of the international peacekeeping force to 3,180. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, has said Israel must withdraw fully as soon as there are 5,000 foreign troops in place.

Under the terms of the ceasefire deal which brought a halt to the 34-day conflict between Israel and the Lebanese militia a force of 15,000 foreign troops is supposed to be deployed within weeks.

As the political fallout from the war continues, Israel's defence minister, Amir Peretz, set himself at odds with the prime minister yesterday when for the first time he backed calls for a state commission inquiry into the war. Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, has ordered a lesser investigation into the handling of the conflict.

(The Guardian)