U.N. fund allocates $7 million for Gaza relief

By Megan Davies

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Wednesday it was allocating $7 million (£4.8 million) from an emergency fund to help provide food and clean water in Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll has risen above 1,000.

The funding will also be used to repair damaged shelters, provide fuel for powering water pumping stations and hospitals, provide clean drinking water in shelters and finance ready-made meals, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said.

After 19 days of Israeli air and ground attacks, living conditions in Gaza have severely worsened and Holmes said in a statement that 500,000 people had no access to running water,

Separately, Holmes told a Security Council meeting that there must be greater efforts to respect international humanitarian law in conflict zones like Gaza.

"Can we look at what has been happening in Gaza in the last three weeks and say that either Israel or Hamas has come close to respecting fully (humanitarian) rules? I think not," he said, opening a debate on protection of civilians in conflict.

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, said over 300 children had been killed and more than 1,500 wounded in Gaza.

"Beyond the immediate needs of the children who have lost their homes, have no access to water, electricity and medicine, beyond the horrific physical scars and injuries however, are the deeper psychological wounds of these children," UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a statement.

Speaking from Gaza by video-link, a senior U.N. official told reporters an "all-pervasive sense of fear" persisted although diplomatic efforts to end the conflict provided "some glimmer of hope."