Mideast anger: humanitarian chief ‘has never seen nations as polarised’

UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland warned yesterday that the anger on all sides in the Middle East is the greatest he has seen in two decades of trying to help the troubled region make peace.

“I’ve never seen nations as polarised as during this recent visit,” said Mr Egeland, who was in Lebanon, Israel and the Gaza Strip at the end of July.

“People were enraged collectively in Lebanon, everybody against the Israeli indiscriminate onslaught. In Israel, they were a united front to support the strong military measures. In the Palestinian areas, I’ve never seen them as full of hatred collectively as now. It has to be defused.”