'Senseless cycle of suffering'

On Wednesday, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon opened a meeting of the General Assembly in New York by saying the UN would help rebuild Gaza - but, he warned, the destruction of the Palestinian territory could not resume.

A truce began on Tuesday, when Israel withdrew after nearly a month of airstrikes and ground shelling that displaced about a half a million people, or nearly a third of Gaza's residents.

"The senseless cycle of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Israel, must end," Ban told the 193-nation assembly. "Do we have to continue like this?" he asked. "Build, destroy and build and destroy? We will build again, but this must be the last time to rebuild. This must stop now."

Israel's bombardment, which began June 8, killed 1,875 in Gaza, about 75 percent of them civilians. Sixty-four Israeli soldiers died. Three noncombatants were killed by rockets fired from Gaza.

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Ban said people on both sides of the conflict had the right to lives "free from fear."

Jordan has circulated a resolution calling for investigations into Israel's bombardment of UN-run schools on July 24, July 31 and August 3, which killed dozens of civilians fleeing strikes elsewhere in Gaza. On Wednesday, Ban, who just Sunday had condemned the most recent of those attacks, thanked UN staff working in Gaza for their bravery and sacrifice and said that the flag of the United Nations would fly at half-mast Thursday to honor colleagues killed.

Ambassador Dina Kawar said the main purpose of Jordan's draft resolution was to make permanent the 72-hour cessation of hostilities, first agreed to on Monday. A truce that went into effect on August 1 ended almost as soon as it began.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that soldiers had not intentionally killed any civilians and put the blame for any deaths on Hamas. "Israel deeply regrets every civilian casualty, every single one," he said. Netanyahu added that Israel would aid in the reconstruction of Gaza.

'Start reconstructing'

While Ban spoke in New York, Egyptian leaders were hosting indirect talks between Palestinian and Israeli officials in Cairo. Led by a member of Fatah, the internationally backed party of President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian negotiations team also includes envoys from the groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas, which has dominated Gaza since 2007.

"The most important thing to us is removing the blockade and start reconstructing Gaza," the Palestinian delegate Bassam Salhi said on Wednesday, referring to an eight-year siege by Israel that has kept necessary reconstruction materials out of the territory. "There can be no deal without that."

Israel seeks Gaza's demilitarization, a move backed by the US, but one that Hamas does not appear ready to give ground on yet.

mkg/kms (AFP, dpa, AP)