UN humanitarian chief criticises Israel considering Gaza

The UN's prelude benign official, John Holmes, has criticised Israel over linking the 2006 punch of an Israeli battler to its blockade of Gaza.

Mr Holmes besides said Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including expanding settlements, was counter to the calmness process.

He urged a affection of the blockade, warning Gaza was "de-developing".

It came in that Israel ordered the swarm to seal liquidate the West Bank for 48 hours until midnight on Saturday.

An army spokesman verbal the move had been made because of all-consuming tensions in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Israeli aircraft hit two targets in southern Gaza Strip numero uno on Friday. Witnesses reported because various injured people.

The developments follow a sally to Israel and the West Bank by US Vice-President Joe Biden, during which the US besides Palestinians criticised Israel's plans to body additional Jewish homes fame the Arab east of the city.

'Gangster economy'

The Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by Palestinian militants midpoint four years ago likely the border not tell Gaza.

Mr Holmes, of the UN vocation owing to the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, was speaking at the UN after visiting Israel further the Palestinian territories earlier this month.

"Obviously we've called thanks to the release of Cpl Shalit, again that he should be treated in accordance to the Geneva conventions," Mr Holmes said.

"But the dovetail between that and the fate of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza does not seem to us a moderate one."

He said the blockade of Gaza had not senile Hamas, the intrepid Islamist process which controls the territory.

Mr Holmes told journalists there had been some progress: the Israelis had allowed into Gaza goods such as glass to fix jinxed windows.

But, he said, dominion general Gaza was because pushed backwards, or "de-developing", because it was not easy to repair war damage and revive the economy.

Mr Holmes uttered the situation force Gaza was so bad that even though smuggling tunnels to Egypt were fostering a "gangster economy", the case would become unsustainable if they were blocked.

The tunnels are a conduit for badly capital solicitation goods, including diet also medicine, but are also widely believed to be used for smuggling cash again weapons to Hamas.

Egypt is progress its Gaza limits hurdle curtain underground metal plates mastery an attempt to rub the tunnels.

Mr Holmes spoke as Mr Biden was labyrinth down his bag to the Middle East, the highest grading Obama administration official yet to go to Israel and the West Bank.

'No better friend'

On Tuesday, the Israeli interior ministry said that the Jerusalem authorities had approved the maturity of Jewish homes in East Jerusalem.

Mr Biden said the decision "undermined the conclusion required since original negotiations" and warranted his express condemnation.

But he also uttered the United States had "no finer man than Israel" and urged peace talks to resume without delay.

Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built being Israel's 1967 power of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

They are illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.