Peter Hansen, commissioner general of the United Nations (news - web sites) Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), told AFP in an interview here Wednesday that his organisation did not have the funds to provide adequate shelter to refugees after the destruction of some 1,400 houses in Gaza.
The Israeli authorities have hotly disputed UNRWA's figures of the homes that have been destroyed, most notably during a series of raids in the southern town of Rafah.
"We have built 300 houses and there are 400 others under construction," said Hansen.
"We need about 30 million dollars which we don't have. We try to get money to build the demolished houses ... but the fact is that the available funds are less than the destroying rates."
Israel insists it has tried to minimise the impact of its operations on the civilian Palestinian infrastructure but says the demolition of some buildings has been unavoidable, accusing militant groups of using housing as a cover for tunnels through which weapons are smuggled under the nearby border with Egypt.
But Hansen said that the scale of the damage wrought by the Israeli authorities could not be justified, regardless of the security concerns.
"Israel justifies its actions (the demolitions) in Khan Younis and Rafah by two arguments: the first is the tunnels and the second that these houses are used as cover for gunmen," said Hansen.
"My point of view is that there is no proportionality between what they are protecting themselves against and what they use to protect themselves.
"Israel considers itself under threat and feels its security is threatened and any country will take action when it feel that its security is threatened. The question is: Will these actions bring complete security to Israel?"
Israel has grown weary of criticism from the United Nations, a body which it regards as institutionally biased against the Jewish state.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) has suffered a series of reverses at the hands of the UN General Assembly over its policies towards the Palestinians, most notably over its controversial West Bank separation barrier which at times cuts deep into Palestinian land.
Hansen in particular angered Israel by describing the fierce clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli army at the Jenin refugee camp in April 2002 as a "massacre".
The right-wing English-language Jerusalem Post newspaper has accused the Dane of having "long ago given up any pretence of objectivity between Israel and the Palestinians."
But Hansen said that both sides bore responsibility for the continued violence and urged them to resume talks in order to break the vicious circle.
"My message to the Israelis and Palestinians is that this continued policy only leads to war, suffering, misery and broken economies for both parties. Both parties have to return to the peace process to reach a solution."
