UN envoy slams "Israeli" barriers

Source: alalam.ir, 23-8-2007
AL-QUDS-The UN Mideast envoy says "Israeli" restriction of movements in the West Bank and Gaza is driving even more Palestinians into poverty.
Michael Williams said the occupying regime`s decision to shut Gaza`s borders to all aid in the wake of Hamas` takeover two months ago is threatening an already badly- damaged economy.
Williams also said he was concerned by an increase in "Israeli" killings of Palestinians in Gaza in recent days.
Gaza`s border crossings with Occupied Palestine and Egypt have been closed to all but humanitarian supplies since Hamas` takeover, prompting aid groups to warn of an approaching crisis.
Williams said that conditions were deteriorating in Gaza.
Earlier, the UN warned that Gaza will soon become entirely dependent on foreign aid and face "disastrous consequences" if the territory remains sealed off.
"An elementary constituent of economic development is freedom of movement, and to a very considerable extent that does not exist in the West Bank," he said.
"We do not see how that can be changed short of opening additional crossing points, particularly Karni," Williams said, referring to Gaza`s main cargo crossing with the occupied lands.
A Palestinian business group warned that at least 120,000 more Gazans could lose their jobs.
Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas set up an emergency government in the West Bank after Hamas took control of Gaza.
Hamas has charged that Abbas` government, made up of pro-Western officials of the Fatah movement, does not want the crossings opened because such a move would help the group hold on to power in Gaza.
Diplomats and other officials in contact with the Abbas government privately confirm that this is the case.
However, Fatah officials deny it, aware that saying so publicly could open it to charges of colluding with the Zionist regime.
Referring to recent release of Palestinian prisoners, Williams urged the occupying regime to release more prisoners and dismantle illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank.
Williams began his tenure as UN special coordinator for the Middle East in May.
He said he will be leaving the job in a few weeks, however, to assume the position of Mideast envoy for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.