Tuesday, 6 January 2009
The most striking things about Gaza are the emptiness of the streets and how vulnerable the civilians are in their homes, a United Nations official said yesterday.
"Nothing is happening, except intermittently you see a family running with their suitcases, obviously looking for safe haven somewhere," said John Ging, the UN's operations director for Gaza.
"You [would] also be struck by the incessant shelling … It's really a horrible existence for the people. There's nowhere to flee to and that is really adding to their despair."
With journalists unable to enter Gaza, accounts from officials such as Mr Ging offer a rare insight into the situation there.
Mr Ging said, via video link to UN headquarters in New York, that he had not thought hostilities would break out. "Sadly this is the consequence of political failure and everybody bears their individual responsibility for their failure in this."
