Maher Nasser

Gaza Humanitarian Crisis Stretches Limits of Aid Organizations


Israel has destroyed three times as many Palestinian homes in the past 12 months as it did during the first 31 months of the Intifada, according to UNRWA. Over the four-year period up to 15 May 2004, Israel demolished or damaged beyond repair over 3,000 Palestinian homes. Of those, more than 2,000 have been in the Gaza Strip. The humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is stretching the limits of the Palestinian people as well as of humanitarian aid organizations working in the region, including UNRWA, explained Maher Nasser, the Chief of UNRWA’s Liaison Office in New York. Nasser was speaking at a 20 May 2004 briefing at the DC-based Palestine Center.