UN Suspends Food Aid as Rockets Strike Israeli City

In a statement released by the UN, Ban voiced his concern "that food and other life saving assistance is being denied to hundreds of thousands of people." He called to immediately end the "measures which increase the hardship and suffering of the civilian population of the Gaza."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday the flare-up in fighting that violated the ceasefire in Gaza Strip has the potential to inflict more suffering and violence to the civilian population.

Violence flared again around Gaza on Friday, wounding two militants and an Israeli woman and putting a five-month-old truce in jeopardy as UN food handouts to the Hamas-ruled strip ground to a halt.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held emergency talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak and military top brass following the firing of nearly 20 rockets from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday.

Israel's refusal to reopen Gaza crossings has forced the UN to suspend the distribution of food ration to half of Gaza's population.

The development follows a warning by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) that if the border crossings were not reopened by Friday, the humanitarian aid to 750,000 Gazans would become impossible.