Gaza conflict

An Invercargill cafe that refused to serve Israeli nationals during the conflict between Israel and Palestine has apologised for its conduct and the matter has now been resolved, the Human Rights Commission said today.

The United States is preparing to donate more than US$900 million for the reconstruction of Gaza, a US official said as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prepared to attend a donors conference for the war-ravaged territory next week.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says border crossings with Gaza will not be fully opened until a captured Israeli soldier is freed.

Israeli warplanes have pounded smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border, a day after a Palestinian bomb killed an Israeli soldier and the Israeli military vowed to respond harshly to any further attacks.

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said on Tuesday (US time) he is heading to Gaza. A top priority will be to get all border crossings opened, he said, not only for food and medicine but for desperately needed construction materials which Israel has refused to allow in since Hamas seized power in June 2007.

About 150 protesters converged on Parliament today to urge the Government to condemn Israel's assault of the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid will be needed immediately to help Gaza's 1.4 million people and billions of dollars will be required to rebuild its shattered buildings and infrastructure, the UN humanitarian chief said.

Families began their desperate search as soon as Israeli soldiers abandoned this devastated refugee camp Sunday, picking by hand through mounds of concrete and steel for the bodies of dead relatives, belongings and even scraps of bombs to sell as recycled aluminum.

Protesters called for the New Zealand Government to take a stand on Israel's bombing of Gaza as they remembered the victims of the conflict during a peaceful protest in Dunedin on Saturday.

About 20 protesters stood outside a Turkish cafe in Invercargill today, protesting against owner Mustafa Tekinkaya banning Israeli customers while the bombing of Gaza continues.