UN ups food handouts in Gaza Strip

[Englander]

GAZA CITY, June 18, 2006 (AFP) - The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) on Sunday began distributing emergency food aid to an additional 90,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.

Those added to the handout rolls are primarily government employees who have not received salaries since March when international aid sanctions were slapped on the Hamas-led government until it renounces violence and recognizes Israel.

"UNRWA has expanded its program for emergency relief for refugees in the Gaza Strip," John Ging, the agency's director in Gaza, told a press conference. "This is a direct response to the deterioration of living conditions of Palestinian refugees."

UNRWA now provides food aid for 725,000 Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.

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