Foreign aid workers leaving Gaza as Israeli forces advance

1.00pm - By CYNTHIA JOHNSTON

GAZA - The main UN aid agency in Gaza is evacuating most of its foreign staff citing security concerns, after Israeli forces pushed deeper into the northern part of the coastal strip, a spokesman said on Wednesday.

The UN Relief and Works Agency, which cares for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in Gaza, said it was pulling out 19 staff, in addition to 20 ordered out last month, leaving only nine foreign workers in the territory.

The move comes against the backdrop of a recent wave of unprecedented internal unrest in Gaza.

However, UNRWA spokesman Johan Eriksson said: "The main reason (for the evacuation) is the expanding Israeli operation in northern Gaza."

Tanks sealed off the Gaza town of Beit Hanoun more than a month ago after Palestinian militants killed two Israelis in a rocket attack across the border in the Jewish state.

Palestinians have waged an uprising against Israeli occupation since September 2000.

The army widened its operation overnight in an effort to drive rocket squads out of range of an Israeli border town that has been a frequent target.

Israeli forces pushed to the edge of the Jabalya refugee camp on Wednesday, a day after masked gunmen from the militant group Hamas issued a taped warning of further rocket attacks.

Violence has surged in Gaza since Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon unveiled a plan to evacuate soldiers and Jewish settlers by the end of 2005.

Gunmen demanding that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat root out corruption briefly abducted four French aid workers in Gaza last month.

Days later, the United Nations said it was removing non-essential foreign staff because of fears they could get caught in the crossfire between militants and Israeli troops. It cited Palestinian unrest as a secondary concern.

The evacuation order was widened on Wednesday to cover most of the agency's foreign workers remaining in the densely populated territory.

The UNRWA workers evacuated last month were sent to Jerusalem, and the latest group, mostly administrative and financial staff, were being moved to Amman, officials said.

UNRWA also employs more than 8000 Palestinian staff in the Gaza Strip.

- REUTERS