UN chief faces slippers protest

Relatives of Palestinians held in Israeli jails have hurled slippers at an armoured vehicle carrying UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon into the Gaza Strip. About 40 relatives of Palestinian prisoners gathered at the Erez Crossing between Gaza and...

Relatives of Palestinians held in Israeli jails have hurled slippers at an armoured vehicle carrying UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon into the Gaza Strip.

About 40 relatives of Palestinian prisoners gathered at the Erez Crossing between Gaza and Israel, holding posters with pictures of their loved ones and signs in English and Arabic reading "Ban Ki-moon, enough bias to Israel".

Two of them threw slippers at his car.

The relatives formed a human chain at the crossing in an effort to block Mr Ban's vehicle, but Hamas security forces moved them away so he could enter Gaza.

Israel holds about 7,000 Palestinian prisoners. Relatives of prisoners from Gaza have not been able to visit them in jail since 2006.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.