(Adds quotes, background) UNITED NATIONS, Jan 9 (Reuters) - U.N. aid workers in Gaza plan to resume their movements in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible after receiving assurances from Israel that they are not being targeted, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday. "The U.N. received credible assurances (from Israel) that the security of U.N. personnel, installations and humanitarian operations would be fully respected," spokeswoman Michele Montas told reporters. "On this basis, U.N. staff movements, suspended yesterday, will resume as soon as possible." A U.N. agency curtailed aid operations on Thursday in Gaza in response to a fatal incident involving Israel firing on a U.N. aid convoy. An Israeli army spokesman denied that the convoy, one of whose drivers was killed, had been deliberately targeted. Montas said that at a high-level meeting on Friday at the Israeli defense ministry in Tel Aviv the United Nations was told the incident was "deeply regretted" and did not reflect official government policy. The Israeli assurances included working to improve liaison and more effective internal coordination within the Israeli defense forces, she said. (Reporting by Louis Charbonneau and Patrick Worsnip, editing by Eric Beech)
Protesters demonstrate against Israel's offensive in Gaza, in Alexandria, about 220 km (150 miles) north of northeast of Cairo January 9, 2009. Israel rejected a U.N. resolution calling for a ceasefire ...
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