UN to deploy police force to Gaza

The United Nations is “ready to respond to any call by member states” to deploy a police force to Gaza, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General for Peace Operations said Wednesday.

"If we are called on by the relevant bodies to help, of course we would do our best," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, answering a reporter’s question at UN headquarters in New York.

Pointing to numerous issues related to aid distribution in Gaza, Lacroix noted that incidents of looting have increased significantly.

He emphasized the need to find a solution to these problems, saying that involving a third party could be one of the options.

Lacroix said that it is uncertain whether this third party would be the UN, adding that certain processes would be required for the involvement of the UN peacekeeping force and that the UN Security Council is part of this process.

Previously, Israeli forces pounded several areas across Gaza on June 26, and residents reported fierce fighting overnight in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.

Residents said fighting intensified in the Tel Al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah, where tanks were also trying to force their way north amid heavy clashes. The armed wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad said fighters attacked Israeli forces with anti-tank rockets and mortar bombs.

Medics said two Palestinians were killed in one Israeli missile strike in Rafah.