Israeli assault could displace 25,000 people - UN

GAZA, July 2: Up to 25,000 Palestinians could be forced from their homes in northern Gaza alone if Israel decides to launch a full-scale assault on the densely populated coastal strip, the United Nations said today.

With the threat of a mass incursion building as Israel seeks to free a soldier kidnapped by militants a week ago, the United Nations said it had drawn up plans to provide food, medicine and shelter to tens of thousands of people.

''We estimate that 25,000 people could be forced to flee Beit Hanoun if Israel attacks in the north, as it has indicated,'' Christer Nordahl, the deputy director of the U.N.'s relief agency in Gaza, told Reuters, referring to a town in the area.

''We're making plans to house those internally displaced in schools and are stockpiling medicine and food supplies to ensure that we can take care of them, and others across the Gaza Strip if the need arises.'' He said Israeli troops entered Beit Hanoun, frequently used by militants to fire rockets into Israel, yesterday and asked a family to leave before themselves withdrawing early on Sunday.

''Beit Hanoun is a place that the Israeli army is likely to want to occupy and take complete control of because it wants to stop the rockets being fired from there,'' Nordahl said.

Residents of Beit Hanoun, where many poor families live less than 100 metres from the Israeli border, expressed fear of a possible invasion on Sunday and said they hoped Pale tinian militants would defend them against assault.

''From what I hear, the militant factions will be here to protect us and will use all means possible, including suicide attacks,'' said Moin al-Athamna, 24, an unemployed man who lost his left leg in Israeli-Palestinian clashes in 2000.

''But I don't know if they will be strong enough for the Israeli forces.'' If Israel does attack, and Defence Minister Amir Peretz made clear on Sunday that a steady escalation should be expected, the United Nations said the worst case scenario would be an assault on several fronts that leaves Gaza split into parts.

Such a scenario could see many more than 25,000 people displaced and lead to widespread problems linked to sanitation and water, food and medicine supply.

''It would make it very difficult for us to get aid through to the people who need it, creating a much wider humanitarian crisis,'' Nordahl said.

A humanitarian crisis has loomed over Gaza, home to around 1.4 million Palestinians, for several months but intensified in the past week after Israel bombed the territory's power station, cutting off electricity and affecting water supplies.

REUTERS