* Newspaper says UNRWA chief fled threats from Hamas * Agency says Hamas has no influence over its aid JERUSALEM, July 24 (Reuters) - The main United Nations agency supplying aid to the Palestinians strongly denied an Israeli newspaper report on Friday that its director had fled Gaza after death threats from the enclave's Islamist rulers. The assertion that John Ging fled after threats from Hamas because he refused to hand over millions of dollars in aid funds was completely baseless and "entirely false", said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency UNRWA. "At no stage has Mr Ging ever fled Gaza and any suggestion that Hamas has any control or influence over UNRWA aid is as baseless as the absurdity about John Ging, (whose) track record in the face of previous threats and attack is a matter of public record," he said in a statement. Ging was outspoken on Gaza's suffering during the Israeli offensive in January. A diplomatic source said Ging was at his Gaza office and had been there for weeks. Israel and United Nations aid agencies are deadlocked over international efforts to help the 1.5 million Palestinians of the Gaza Strip rebuild hundreds of homes and small businesses wrecked by Israel's military offensive last January. ISRAELI BLOCKADE Israel so far refuses to relax a blockade of the coastal enclave by land and sea. It is preventing the import of construction materials such as cement and reinforcing rods, which Israel says Hamas could use for military purposes. As a result, reconstruction of damaged Gaza districts has still not begun more than 6 months since fighting ceased, raising the likelihood that thousands of people will have no homes to move back into by the time winter comes around. Ma'ariv newspaper quoted an unidentified Israeli "high security official" as saying Hamas "demands to know where the (aid) money is going in order to control it ... by doing this Hamas is actually using violence against UNRWA". Hamas was "dictating a policy whereby all the money that goes to the Gaza Strip goes through it", it said. Israeli security officials feared Hamas may "seize the money and use it for terrorism purposes", the paper added. Gunness rejected the account. "UNRWA distributes its aid directly to the refugees on the basis of need," he said. "The Hamas de facto government has no influence whatsoever on who receives assistance from UNRWA, nor have they made the demands alleged." Israel, which relinquished military occupation of Gaza in 2005, invaded the enclave at the end of 2008 to force Hamas to stop firing rockets at nearby Israeli towns. About 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the 3-week operation. Rocket fire has since all but ceased. Hamas does not recognise Israel's right to exist and remains committed to armed resistance. It demands that Israel end the blockade. The Israelis say Hamas must first release Gilad Shalit, a soldier they kidnapped over three years ago. (Writing by Douglas Hamilton, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Palestinian groom Mahmoud al-Zanen (L) and his brother Mohammed walks with their brides Nisreen (L) and Kholod near their destroyed house during their wedding ceremony in Beit Hanoun town in the ...
