U.N. seeks funds for Gaza aid; access a concern

Palestinians are seen sitting beside a makeshift shelter near their destroyed house in Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip in this January 29, 2009 file photo.

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations on Monday appealed to the international community for $613 million to fund emergency relief efforts in Gaza and called on Israel to open all border crossings to allow goods to flow in.

The appeal, meant to help 1.4 million people over the next nine months, was delivered to diplomats at the U.N.'s Geneva headquarters by U.N. Undersecretary General and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes.

"Although the fighting has stopped in Gaza, the difficult task of rebuilding people's lives and recovering from the devastation is only just beginning," Holmes said, describing intended projects to provide food and water, restore health and education services, and support emergency repair work.

The former British diplomat also called on Israel to grant freer access to humanitarian relief goods and aid workers, many of whom are still refused regular entry to Gaza.

"There must be a regular, predictable and sufficient flow of life-sustaining goods and an uninterrupted and facilitated movement of humanitarian staff in order for this relief effort to succeed," he said.

In a statement, Oxfam International said extra aid money alone could not solve the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

"It is not enough for donor countries to reach out for their cheque books. They must also press Israel to open up the border crossings and make sure their aid money is used effectively," its executive director Jeremy Hobbs said.

Medical officers in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip say Israel's offensive killed 1,300 Palestinians, including 700 civilians. Ten Israel soldiers and three civilians were killed during the campaign, which Israel said was to end cross-border rocket fire.

Palestinian Health Minister Fathi Abu Mughli, in Geneva to attend the U.N. appeal, told journalists that damaged sewage lines needed to be repaired quickly to avoid water contamination and an outbreak of diarrhoeal infections in Gaza.

Mughli said he was working with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), World Health Organisation (WHO) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to coordinate health aid and draw in specialist surgeons who may be able to help Gaza's doctors, citing demand for war surgeons, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons and reconstruction experts.

"We have good doctors experienced in war injuries but they are lacking some skills needing to be supported," he said.

International and Palestinian experts have estimated that reconstruction of the Gaza Strip may cost close to $2 billion.