The United Nations Palestinian refugees agency Monday announced an emergency program, doubling temporary job opportunities for thousands of people in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

John Ging, operation director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said the organization's job creation program has increased temporary job opportunities to 14,000, 3,100 of which are dedicated to supporting the Palestinian private sector which is struggling hard to stand.

Ging said the program aims at securing jobs "for businessmen, ordinary people and those who want to support their families."

Most of 36,000 factories in Gaza have stalled due to the Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave since June 2007. An Israeli major three-week military offensive on Gaza in last winter has also contributed to the growing unemployment and poverty rates.

According to Ging, the support includes a six-month payment for employees enrolled in the project which mainly focus on removing the rubbles and rehabilitating some of the factories, buildings and infrastructure damaged during the Israeli offensive.

Ging said Gazan private sector is on the brink of collapse due to the tight closure, adding that around 120,000 private employees have lost their jobs.

He called on the international community to push and press Israel to open all the crossing points into the Gaza Strip.

Opening the crossings is the most urgent political action that should be taken, Ging told a press conference on the ruins of the only cement packaging factory in Gaza, damaged during the Israeli war.

He said the suffering of the Palestinians who lost their houses in the war will increase as the winter comes, urging Israel to allow cement, glass and other construction materials into Gaza.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2009)