By Ola Attalah
GAZA
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that devastation inflicted by Israel's recent military onslaught on the Gaza Strip constituted a "shame" for the international community.
Speaking to reporters at the end of his brief visit to the embattled strip, Ban renewed calls for an independent inquiry into the shelling of schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which happened several times during the recent conflict and which Ban described as "unacceptable."
"There should be accountability. Those who have committed violations of international humanitarian law should be investigated and brought to justice. As you know, the United Nations Human Rights Council has established a commission of inquiry and is now investigating [possible violations]," he said.
"I, as secretary-general of the United Nations, am considering the establishment of a board of inquiry to investigate the shelling of U.N. facilities and the killing of U.N. staff," he added.
UNRWA chief Piere Krahenbuhl had earlier blamed Israeli forces for the deadly artillery barrages, which, he asserted, had been carried out in the full knowledge that the schools were housing Palestinians seeking refuge from Israeli bombardments.
Ban also stressed the importance of ending rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, saying the practice only resulted in "suffering."
He also called on Israel and the Palestinians to resume stalled peace talks, noting that his visit to Gaza had reinforced his conviction that "there is no time to lose."
"There can be no peace in the Middle East, no security for Israel, while the crisis in Gaza festers. The build-destroy cycle must be broken. The mindless pattern of blockade, rockets and destruction must stop," he asserted.
"I'm committed to doing everything possible in my power to support political efforts to finally end the nearly half-century of [Israeli] occupation, ensure Israel's legitimate security needs, and establish peace once and for all," Ban said.
The U.N. chief arrived in Gaza earlier Tuesday for an hours-long visit as part of a larger regional tour.
Ban's visit also came after he attended Sunday's international donor conference in Cairo, which was devoted to reconstruction of the war-battered Gaza Strip.
Conference attendees pledged a total of $5.4 billion to the Palestinians, half of which will go towards rebuilding the Gaza Strip, which was ravaged in July and August by Israel's ferocious 51-day military offensive.
After a short meeting with Gaza-based Palestinian officials, Ban described the scale of destruction he had witnessed in Gaza as "beyond description."
"This is much more serious destruction than I saw in 2009 immediately after the violence at that time," he said, referring to Israel's devastating "Operation Cast Lead" in which some 1,500 Gazans were killed.
Saying he had come to Gaza with "a message of hope," Ban expressed the international community's solidarity with the people of Gaza.
This summer, Israel pounded the coastal strip for seven weeks – by air, land and sea – with the stated aim of staunching Palestinian rocket fire.
Along with killing hundreds of Palestinians and injuring thousands, the offensive also left vast swathes of Gaza's critical infrastructure in ruins.
www.aa.com.tr/en
