Five days after the UN Relief and Works Agency's field office in Gaza City was set ablaze by a barrage of white phosphorous shells in the morning of the 15 January, phosphorous fire was still smoldering in the compound today (20 January), as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon came to see the destruction for himself.
Speaking to reporters outside the UNRWA compound, Ban condemned the attack on UNRWA in the strongest possible terms.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:
"It's particularly significant for me as Secretary General of the United Nations to stand in front of this bombed site of a United Nations compound. I'm just appalled, I'm not able to describe how I feel, having seen this site of the bombing of the United Nations compound. Everyone is smelling, this is still burning. This is an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the United Nations."
UNRWA's two main warehouses, as well as the workshop serving its fleet of cars and trucks in Gaza, were destroyed in the fire.
A major explosion was close, as the flames at one stage was only 30 meters from five fuel tankers parked close to the fires.
Thousands of tons of food and medicine, intended for distribution among the more than 800 000 Palestine refugees dependent on UNRWA, were destroyed.
Used cartridges of the white phosphorous shells were found in among the destroyed buildings.
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