UN humanitarian chief visits Gaza

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-23-2009 09:19

The UN humanitarian chief has continued his firsthand look at the damage in the Gaza Strip. His group is gearing up to provide desperately needed relief to the territory's 1.5 million people.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes, center, observes destruction in Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, Thursday, Jan. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

John Holmes visited many sites of devastation, including residential and industrial areas, schools and hospitals and infrastructure. He also visited a compound of the UN headquarters.

Hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid there were destroyed by an Israeli attack.

Holmes is suggesting the UN ask compensation from Israel. He gave a harsh assessment of the scale of damage.

John Holmes, UN Humanitarian Aid Chief, said, "Some of the things we saw today I had expected things to be bad, I had expected to see a lot of destruction, what I saw was actually more shocking than I had expected, both in its extent and in its nature. The destruction for example of the industrial area in a very systematic way, which has huge implications for the future economic development of Gaza."

Editor:Zhang Pengfei