Desmond Tutu to lead UN mission in Gaza Strip
Last Updated: Friday, December 1, 2006 | 4:05 PM ET
The Associated Press
Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu says he's honoured to lead a United Nations fact-finding mission in the Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun.
Israeli tanks opened fire in a residential neighbourhood in the town in November, killing Palestinians as they slept. Original reports said 18 people died, many of them children.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu laughs during a news conference Saturday, Aug. 5, 2000.
(Tony Tribble/Associated Press)
The death toll is now pegged at 19.
Israel has insisted the killings were unintentional. It says troops were shelling in the area in an attempt to curb Palestinian rocket attacks.
The UN wants Tutu to report back in mid-December.
The retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa, said Thursday he hopes the mission will advance the cause of peace and stability for both Palestinians and Israelis.
The UN wants Tutu to assess the needs of survivors and make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against further Israeli assaults.
Tutu was a vocal anti-apartheid campaigner in South Africa. When apartheid ended, he chaired the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his work to end apartheid.
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