Speed up Gaza reconstruction, Hamas tells UN

Hamas leaders Thursday called on the envoy of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the Middle East to work harder on speeding up the stalled process of reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.

Leaders of Hamas movement in Gaza and envoy Robert Serry met in Gaza city Thursday, Xinhua reported citing the movement.

Following a 50-day large-scale air and ground military operation Israel waged on the Gaza Strip on July 8, the enclave was left with large-scale destruction of housing and infrastructure units.

International donors, who convened in Cairo Oct 12, pledged $5.4 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza. However, the process was obstructed due to growing tension between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Hamas statement said that its delegation, which met with Serry at the UN headquarters in Gaza city, was headed by Musa Abu Marzooq and Ghazi Hammad, a senior Hamas official.

The statement said that Abu Mrzooq informed Serry that it was necessary to speed up the process of reconstruction and permanently open all the closed crossing points with the Gaza Strip.

Serry had earlier also met with several ministers in the Palestinian unity government in Gaza, while hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated before the UN headquarters calling on the UN to speed up the reconstruction of their destroyed houses.