UNRWA Commissioner-General visits Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza Strip

Gaza, 8 November

UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen Koning AbuZayd visited Beit Hanoun shortly after the Israeli military left the area, on 7 November. Beit Hanoun residents were in mourning and looking for places to bury the dead after a six-day Israeli military operation in the area.

AbuZayd visited Beit Hanoun to gain a first hand understanding of what the refugees had experienced, and what their needs are. First hand, she witnessed the despair and fury of people trying to come to terms with death and destruction on a scale not seen in Gaza for many years. Calling the situation in Beit Hanoun “a real humanitarian disaster”, AbuZayd assured refugees that UNRWA is working hard to provide all that it can to affected people.

AbuZayd emphasized that UNRWA was quick to respond during the first Israeli operation in the area, despite having “faced difficulties getting into Beit Hanoun because of obstacles from the Israeli military”. “We distributed food and other [water and medical] assistance to residents of the area”, she noted of the humanitarian convoys and medical teams that entered. In addition, AbuZayd said that UNRWA sent an urgent appeal to the international community for funds to repair the damages incurred as a result of the Israeli military operation.

Ms. AbuZayd emphasized that the situation is deteriorating in Beit Hanoun and that conditions are worsening throughout the entire Gaza Strip.

The day following her visit to Beit Hanoun, a barrage of Israeli military tank shells resulted in 19 fatalities – including women, children and infants from the same family– and over 60 injuries in Beit Hanoun. As Commissioner-General, AbuZayd expressed shock and dismay at the killing of yet more Palestine refugees, saying: "This morning's tragedy is yet more evidence, if any were needed, that this futile cycle of inhuman violence must end".

The return of Israeli military troops to the Gaza Strip for the siege of Beit Hanoun on 1 November was one of a series of Israeli military operations since August 2005, when the military withdrew to the Gaza/Israel border and Israel removed the settlers from the Strip. Since the year 2000, Israeli military operations have caused extensive destruction throughout the Beit Hanoun area. Preliminary assessments indicate that during the recent siege, dozens of houses were destroyed and hundreds more damaged, in addition to serious damage to the 850 year old Um al-Nasser Mosque in the centre of Beit Hanoun.

There are approximately 40,000 people in Beit Hanoun, 99 percent of whom are Palestine refugees. More than 10,500 of the 40,000 are UNRWA school children who could not attend school due to the Israeli military-imposed curfew.