Palestinian president proclaims Gaza disaster area

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday proclaimed Gaza Strip a humanitarian disaster area, urging the UN to respond to the crisis caused by the Israel onslaught on the Strip which entered its fourth week.
He sent a message to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling on him to adopt the necessary measures for declaring the Strip a disaster area and urging the international community to shoulder its responsibility in this regard.
"The UN and its affiliate agencies must meet the urgent needs of our people in Gaza and provide them with relief aid," Palestine Radio reported, citing the message.
"The brutal Israeli aggression on Gaza resulted in a humanitarian emergency and suffering for countless numbers of people. "Therefore, I decided to declare the region a humanitarian disaster area and I call upon you to shoulder your responsibility in this regard as per the provisions of the UN Charter, particularly Article No. 99," Abbas wrote in his message. He called on Ban to use all means at his disposal as UN chief to provide urgent aid to, and protection for, the Palestinian people in the besieged Strip.
He also called for opening lifelines and establishing safe havens for the civilians displaced in Gaza in order to provide them with safe food, water and medicines.