Jan Egeland went on to say some of the cluster bombs came from the United States and urged the Bush administration to stem further shipments. Egeland also addressed Israel’s ongoing siege of the Gaza Strip.

• UN Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland: “Gaza is a ticking timebomb. You can not seal off an area which is a little bit bigger than the city of Stockholm and have 1.4 million people, of whom 800,000 are youth and children and then have 200 artillery shells a day going in there, virtually.”

Egeland’s comments come as Israel says it’s completed a six-day incursion into Gaza that killed at least eighteen Palestinians. The Israeli army says it uncovered a tunnel that had been dug to launch attacks on its soldiers. Meanwhile in the West Bank, Israeli troops have killed a top commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades during a raid on the city of Nablus.