Carter 'Holds Back Tears' on Gaza
While touring the war-ravaged strip, Carter said Tuesday that he was deeply concerned about the damage Israeli war planes deliberately inflicted on the people of Gaza using US bombs.
"I have to hold back tears when I see the deliberate destruction that has been wracked against your people," Carter said.
"I feel partially responsible for this as must all Americans and Israelis," he added.
Tel Aviv waged war on Gaza on December 27. Three weeks of ensuing airstrikes and a ground incursion left nearly 1,350 Palestinians -- at least 1,100 of whom were civilians -- dead and nearly 5,450 others injured.
The onslaught cost the Palestinian economy at least $1.6 billion, destroying some 4,000 residential buildings and damaging 16,000 other homes.
Since June 2007, when Israel imposed a blockade on the territory home to 1.5 million people, no raw material have entered Gaza, stalling any attempt to rebuild the strip.
"The construction sector is totally paralyzed. 3,500 businesses have closed down and over 75,000 workers, who support half a million dependants, have lost their jobs," Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said on its website.
