UN chief sees 'heartbreaking' Gaza damage

Voicing shock and anger at the "heartbreaking" devastation, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited the Gaza Strip yesterday to pledge aid for Palestinians after Israeli attacks killed 1,300 and left thousands homeless.

Israel was set to withdraw its remaining troops before the inauguration of Barack Obama as US President, seemingly to avoid clouding the start of a new era in a key alliance. Mr Obama's predecessor George W. Bush endorsed the three-week offensive as a legitimate response to rocket fire by Gaza's ruling Islamists.

Since a ceasefire, though nothing like a peace accord, took hold on Sunday, Hamas has demonstrated it remains in charge in the coastal enclave. It held "victory" rallies to coincide with Mr Ban's visit. Some speakers urged him and Western powers to end their boycott of Hamas, which won the last Palestinian election.

"I have seen only a fraction of the destruction. This is shocking and alarming," Mr Ban said, condemning the "excessive use" of force by Israel as well as militants' rocket salvoes.

"These are heartbreaking scenes I have seen and I am deeply grieved by what I have seen today," he told a news conference held against a backdrop of still smouldering food aid in a UN warehouse set ablaze by Israeli gunfire last Thursday.

Mr Ban called the attack "outrageous" and demanded an inquiry and, if need be, the guilty to be held to account. He criticised Hamas for firing rockets but said Israel used "excessive force".

Israel blames Hamas for fighting around civilians and sites run by the United Nations, which supports much of Gaza's population of 1.5 million. Most are families of refugees who fled or were forced from homes in what became the Jewish state of Israel in 1948.

Mr Ban, on a Middle East tour, was the most senior diplomatic figure to visit the territory in years, certainly since Hamas routed secular Fatah forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and seized control of Gaza in June 2007.

Although aid agencies said they planned a massive inflow of supplies to Gaza's people through Israeli crossings, help will be complicated by the Western boycott of Hamas as a "terrorist" organisation and an Israeli blockade on many items, including building materials, that can be used to make weapons.

So Mr Ban urged the Palestinians to patch up their political differences within President Abbas's Palestinian Authority in order to realise their hopes of statehood and make peace with Israel.

"I appeal to Fatah, Hamas, to all Palestinian factions, to reunite within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority," Mr Ban said, urging an end to a schism between Hamas in Gaza and Mr Abbas in the West Bank that has paralysed peace talks.

Thousands of Hamas supporters, many waving green Islamist banners, marched through Gaza and held a rally outside the compound during Mr Ban's visit. Speakers demanded UN recognition.