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Arab League Delegation Tours Gaza to Assess Damage

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Two Arab committees started touring Gaza Strip on Monday to assess the destruction and the people's pressing needs resulted from 22-day Israeli offensive, Palestinian sources said.

The 19-member committees, assigned by the Arab League (AL), arrived in Gaza Sunday through Rafah crossing.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), the teams represent the AL's agricultural, industrial, educational and information organizations.

The delegation will document alleged war crimes committed by Israel during Operation Cast Lead, the unprecedented Israeli assault that targeted Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008 to January 18, this year.

Mahmoud al-Hannan, the head of the delegation, said the Arab experts' reports will be put forward before international donors who will meet next month in Egypt to look into reconstruction projects in the war-torn Gaza.

According to UN reports, more than 14,000 homes, 68 government buildings, and 31 offices of nongovernmental organizations were destroyed during the onslaught.

The reconstruction process would be hit by several obstacles, starting from the Israeli economic sanction and the Palestinian political crisis.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2009)