UN ready to deploy police force to Gaza: Official

NEW YORK

The United Nations is “ready to respond to any call by member states” to deploy a police force to Gaza, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General for Peace Operations said Wednesday.

"If we are called on by the relevant bodies to help, of course we would do our best," said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, answering a reporter’s question at UN headquarters in New York.

Pointing to numerous issues related to aid distribution in Gaza, Lacroix noted that incidents of looting have increased significantly.

He emphasized the need to find a solution to these problems, saying that involving a third party could be one of the options.

Lacroix said that it is uncertain whether this third party would be the UN, adding that certain processes would be required for the involvement of the UN peacekeeping force and that the UN Security Council is part of this process.

*Alperen Aktas contributed to the story from Istanbul