Ban Comes under Shower of Shoes in Gaza Visit

Local Editor

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon was met by shoes on Thursday as he paid a visit to Gaza strip. As the UN leader entered the Palestinian territory, protesters threw shoes, sand and small stones at his convoy, which was briefly held up before continuing on to Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. A crowd of around 50 demonstrators, most of them relatives of Palestinians in Israeli jails, said they were protesting the fact that Ban was not meeting with them or Palestinian prisoner groups during his brief trip to Gaza. The UN chief's first stop in the territory was at the Amal (Hope) school in Khan Yunis, with a visit to a Japanese-funded housing project also on the agenda. He is not scheduled to meet with any member of the Islamic Resistanc e Movement, Hamas. Ban's trip to Gaza comes as part of a visit to the Zionist entity and the Palestinian territories intended to convince the two sides to continue meeting, as the international community seeks a way to kickstart direct negotiations. He arrived in the region a day after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following talks with Netanyahu, Ban condemned rocket attacks from Gaza as "unacceptable" and said he had discussed the delicate informal truce. He also urged the Zionist entity to offer "goodwill gestures" to the Palestinians to lure them back to talks. But his call to halt Zionist settlement construction, a key Palestinian demand, appeared to be rebuffed by Netanyahu, who said Wednesday he considered settlements an issue for discussion during negotiations, not before.

Source: Agencies

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