UN calls on Israel to ease Gaza blockade

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has arrived in Gaza where he has called on Israel to lift its blockade from the Hamas-ruled strip.


Israel has kept a tight blockade on the coastal enclave since June 2007, when Hamas Islamists seized control of the coastal enclave from their rival, secular Fatah.


In December 2008, Israel launched a three-week attack on Hamas, which killed close to 1,400 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis were also killed in what is known as the Cast Lead operation.


In October 2009, the United Nation's Human Rights Council adopted a report published by a U.N. mission, led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, which said Israel and Hamas were guilty of war crimes during the war.


Meanwhile, Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians who tried to stab a soldier on Sunday, the Israeli army said.


This brings to four the number of Palestinians killed in the past two days in the occupied West Bank.