UAE halts constructions in Gaza housing project

The United Arab Emirates has halted constructions in a housing project to house liberated prisoners and their families in the Gaza Strip; a source revealed to Saffa news agency on Sunday.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said: “The UAE asked the Ministry of Housing and Public Work in the Gaza Strip to suspend constructions in the residential city citing private reasons without further clarification.”

The news agency learned that the ministry had completed 70 per cent of the construction when the UAE abruptly asked to suspend working in the city.

In January 2013, the UAE donated towards the construction of a residential city in the enclave to house Palestinian detainees who were freed from Israeli jails and their families.

The Minister of Housing and Public Work Yousef Al Ghareer said the UAE donated $50 million to build the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan City project but did not specify the start or completion dates. The government in Gaza allocated a piece of land to lay the city’s foundation.

Egypt brokered a deal in 2011 where Israel released more than 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Hamas releasing the Israeli captive soldier Gilad Shalit.