UN chief Ban Ki-moon slammed Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip during a tour of the war-battered coastal territory on Sunday, saying it was causing "unacceptable suffering."
The visit came as part of a two-day regional tour aimed at reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that last collapsed during Israel's war on the territory's Hamas rulers in December 2008 and January 2009.
"I have repeatedly made it quite clear to Israel's leaders that the Israeli policy of closure is not sustainable and that it's wrong," Ban told reporters in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis.
"It causes unacceptable suffering," he said, adding that he was saddened to see that teenagers and children were the worst affected. "This policy is also counterproductive. It prevents legitimate commerce and encourages smuggling. It undercuts moderates and empowers extremists."
It was the UN chief's second visit to Gaza since the war in which some 1,400 Palestinians were killed and thousands of houses were severely damaged or destroyed by Israeli forces. Thirteen Israelis were killed in the fighting.
Ban toured some of the hardest-hit areas of Gaza before announcing projects to build 150 homes, a flour mill and a sewage treatment plant, for which Israel has given rare approval for the import of construction materials.
The housing project on the site of a former Israeli settlement near the southern town of Khan Yunis is seen as a way of proving to Israel that the United Nations can bring building materials into the territory without them being hijacked by Hamas or other militant groups. Munir Manneh, the head of construction projects for the UN refugee agency UNRWA, said all the materials would be carefully documented. "We will give an excellent example and prove that we will control the process 100 percent," he said after presenting the project details to Ban.
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