Military

DATE=11/01/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-N / PALESTINIAN RELIEF (L ONLY)

NUMBER=2-268720

BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY

DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A United Nations official says the ongoing violence in the Middle East is putting severe strains on the work of the U-N Palestine relief agency. V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations.

TEXT: U-N official Peter Hansen, who is in charge of U-N humanitarian aid for Palestinians, told reporters he will soon issue an appeal for emergency aid to deal with the crisis.

/// HANSEN ACT 1 ///

Many supplies are beginning to run very low in Gaza and areas of the West Bank, so we are working on an appeal that would enable us to provide those most affected by the current unrest with food and medical aid.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Hansen says the U-N Palestinian relief agency probably needs an additional 50-million dollars in emergency assistance.

He also said that, while the deaths of more than 150 Palestinians have received wide news coverage, the number of seriously injured is far greater.

/// HANSEN ACT 2 ///

There are now well over six-thousand casualties. Many of them will be badly disabled for life and that will put a great toll on the humanitarian machinery in the area.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Hansen said the violence has also injured the Palestinian economy, costing an estimated four-million dollars a day in lost revenue. (Signed)

NEB/UN/BA/LSF/JWH