NEW YORK, November 22, 2008 (WAFA)- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced regret, Saturday, that Israel has not yet heeded his call to urgently permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the civilian population of Gaza.

A statement issued by his spokesperson said Mr. Ban, who had phoned Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday to urge him to facilitate the freer movement of urgently needed humanitarian supplies and of United Nations personnel into Gaza, continued to express his concern at the situation following Israel’s closure of crossing points.

Mr. Ban has been briefed on the humanitarian situation in Gaza by UN Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes, and supports the statement just released by his office calling on all parties to refrain from violence and allow the immediate and sustained reopening of border crossings.

“Measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza Strip as a whole are unacceptable and must cease immediately,” Mr. Holmes said.

Mr. Holmes, who is also Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, noted that the Secretary-General had repeatedly condemned rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilian targets, but he also expressed particular concern that the human dignity and well-being of the civilians in Gaza, over half of whom are children, do not appear to be a major issue for the parties to the conflict.