Ban Ki-moon Tells Israel to Back Gaza Restoration

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday called on Israel to support the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. Ban wants the Israelis to back restoration plans drawn up by U.N. bodies for rebuilding areas devastated during the January military operation by the Israeli army and to open the borders in order to allow necessary construction materials to enter. Funding for the project also remains a problem. A donor’s conference held last March in Cairo raised $4.5 billion in pledges for rebuilding Gaza, but according to Ban, “little, if any, of that money has been delivered.”