UN Emergency Relief Coordinator on mission to Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

(Jerusalem: 24 July 2006) United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland will begin the second half of his six-day mission to the Middle East with a two-day visit to the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel.
During his visit, Mr. Egeland will discuss the proposed humanitarian corridors for the international relief effort in Lebanon.

Mr. Egeland is due to arrive from Lebanon at 11:30 pm at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv outside of the VIP lounge where he will make a short statement laying out his plans for the visit and be available to the press for questions.

Tomorrow, Mr. Egeland is expected to go to the Gaza Strip to see Palestinian areas affected by Israeli military operations. At 10:30 am, he will tour the Gaza power plant and al-Maghazi refugee camp. Following this, he will meet with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and other humanitarian actors in Gaza. In the evening, he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in Ramallah.

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Egeland intends to visit northern Israel to see areas damaged by Hezbollah shelling and then meet several senior Israeli government officials in the afternoon. Mr. Egeland will give a press conference at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, tentatively scheduled for 5:00 pm, where he will present the conclusions of his mission.

Today in Beirut, Mr. Egeland will be launching an appeal for approximately $150 million to support United Nations emergency humanitarian assistance for Lebanon. During his mission here, Mr. Egeland intends to be available to speak to the local, regional and international media on the current humanitarian situation in Lebanon and the occupied Palestinian territory.

For more information please contact:

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs oPt office:

Allegra Pacheco, 02-582-9962, mobile 0545-627-848
Juliette Touma, (Arab press) 02-582-5853, mobile 054-815-5546
Judith Harel, (Israeli press) mobile 054-660-0528