Israel hit future Palestinian state's infrastructure: UNRWA

GENEVA (Agencies) - Israel destroyed the infrastructure of a future Palestinian state during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip, the head of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday.
"There has been so much destruction here, not just to housing... but to the infrastructure of the future state," UNRWA operations chief John Ging said in a conference call with journalists in Geneva.
Ging said there was a need to establish accountability "for why the Israeli air force hit infrastructure of the state of Palestine rather than the infrastructure of terror, whatever that may be."
A large proportion of the destruction in Gaza involved industrial facilities and ministries belonging to the Palestinian Authority, according to Ging.
A "credible and independent investigation" on the violence would also help to defuse tensions and re-establish faith in the rule of law, he underlined. "There is more and more anger growing."
Addressing a Press conference in Jerusalem, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes, who visited Gaza, said the Palestinians of Gaza urgently need hundreds of millions of dollars for food and repairs.
US President Barack Obama has also added his voice to a clamour for Israel to fully open the enclave to aid.
Holmes told the BBC the situation in Gaza was worse than he anticipated, adding he was shocked by "the systematic nature of the destruction".
He said the Israeli offensive against Hamas had caused more destruction than expected and called the death toll "shocking".
"A very significant appeal for resources of hundreds of millions of dollars," was required at the start of February for just the next six to nine months, John Holmes told newsmen.
"The level of destruction, which I expected to be high ... was even worse than what I expected," he said after touring Gaza.
He noted that the Palestinian Health Ministry listed more than 1,300 dead and 5,000 wounded during Israel's 22-day Operation Cast Lead. "They are very alarming figures, very shocking figures for a three-week campaign like that."
Gazans urgently need food, drinking water, fuel and the repair of the electricity network, Holmes said. At least 100,000 of the 1.5 million population have been displaced.
Holmes said the UN needed the crossing points "fully open" to be able to do its job.
Some 200,000 Palestinian children will return to UN-run schools on the Gaza Strip on Saturday after the 22-day Israeli assault on the Islamist Hamas movement, an UNRWA spokesman said.
"Tomorrow all the 221 UNRWA schools should open," spokesman Christopher Gunness said. "In spite of the fact that our beneficiaries and UNRWA itself took such a heavy hit we are determined to press ahead with our human development week just days after the ceasefire.
The Palestinian Authority welcomed the appointment of former senator George Mitchell as the new US envoy to the Middle East.
"He's someone with experience of the Israel-Palestinian question and the settlement of political conflicts," Palestinian chief negotiator Ahmad Qorei told AFP.
Israel welcomed not only Mitchell but also Obama's move to "engage actively" in peace negotiations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said.
He recalled "the good working relationship" the Jewish state had enjoyed with Mitchell and said he was convinced it would continue.