UN Humanitarian Chief visits Gaza

The UN Humanitarian Chief has visited the Gaza strip and called for reopening of the borders to provide relief to the suffering residents.

John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, visited Gaza on Friday and called for reopening of the borders in the Gaza Strip. Yet he refused to meet families of detainees imprisoned by the Zionist regime.

The closure crippled the Gaza Strip, its hospitals and facilities, raising unemployment and poverty rates up to 80 percent and making the residents dependent on food aid, according to the International Middle East Media Center.

Talking to reporters in Gaza, Holmes acknowledged that these conditions are creating a grim situation in the area.
This is the first official visit by Holmes.

His visit to Gaza started by visiting al-Shifa Hospital, where he was informed by the administrators that the hospital was on the verge of collapse as it was being run by electricity generators as fuel remained unavailable.

 
They also said that the hospital needed spare parts for its medical equipment such as dialysis machines in addition to basic medications.

Holmes expressed shock over the conditions in Gaza and what he observed during his visit.