BRUSSELES, March 6, 2004, (WAFA)- European Commission (EC) decided Friday to help the Palestinian victims whose houses were recently destroyed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).... In a press release issued Friday, in Brussels, the EC took an emergency decision for €1 million for "victims of house demolitions" in the Gaza Strip.... According to the press release the EC said that 13,000 people who have lost their homes in recent months will be provided with emergency shelter and relief items.... THE EC added that the funds, channeled through the Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO), will be directed to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).... The Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Poul Nielson, criticized the Israel's destruction of Palestinian houses and urged it to halt its practices that violate the international law and worsen the Palestinian human condition.... Nielson said: "The demolitions are disproportionate acts that contravene international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention." He added: "We urge the Israeli military authorities to refrain from practices that aggravate the humanitarian and economic plight of the Palestinians".... The Commission's humanitarian support for Palestinian victims of Israeli aggressions has risen since the eruption of al-Aqsa Intifada.... Since October, 2000, Israeli Occupation Forces have completely destroyed more than 2600 Palestinian-owned houses in the Gaza Strip, leaving thousands of families homeless, according to the Palestine National Information Centre.... --