By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Israel has a right to respond to security threats but should not collectively punish the Gaza population for rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory, the U.N. humanitarian affairs chief said on Friday. "We all understand the security problems and the need to respond to that, but collective punishment of the people of Gaza is not, we believe, the appropriate way to do that," said John Holmes, undersecretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs. He also criticized the Israeli Defense Ministry's decision on Friday to close all of Israel's border crossings with Gaza, preventing delivery of a U.N. aid shipment to the territory's 1.5 million people, most of whom depend on foreign aid. Israel said the move was a response to Palestinian rocket attacks. "I am deeply concerned by the closure this morning by Israel of all the crossing points between Gaza and Israel because they are the lifeline for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and other goods to Gaza," Holmes said. He urged Israel to end the closure, saying it could worsen shortages of food, medicine and other essential goods in Gaza. "The Israeli reaction is not justified by those rocket attacks, even though it's caused by those rocket attacks," he said. "This kind of action against the people in Gaza cannot be justified, even by those rocket attacks." Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, was not immediately available for comment. Holmes also urged the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized control of Gaza last June, to use its authority to put an end to the attacks against Israel. "I'm calling on the Hamas leaders ... to do whatever they can to stop these attacks because they claim to be in control of Gaza there," Holmes said. "Therefore they have a responsibility to stop the attacks." Israel has killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza this week as part of what it describes as a stepped-up campaign to force Hamas to rein in militants who have fired more than 110 rockets into the Jewish state in the last three days alone. Israel has imposed strict curbs on nonhumanitarian supplies to Gaza since Hamas' takeover. But many essentials have been getting in, either with Israeli approval or through smuggling, though supplies are limited and prices have risen steeply. Holmes said he worried the escalation of violence in Gaza could spin out of control, making a dire humanitarian situation even worse. "I believe it is a (humanitarian) crisis already," he said. Israel bombed the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza on Friday, killing one woman and injuring at least 30 others who were nearby, medical officials said. (Editing by Xavier Briand)
An Israeli soldier fires a tear gas canister at Palestinian stone throwers during a protest against Israel's controversial barrier near the West Bank village of Bilin January 18, 2008. REUTERS/Mahfouz Abu ...
