UNRWA needs $100m in urgent relief to repair Gaza homes

UNRWA needs $100 million in urgent relief in the first quarter of this year to enable it to help repair homes destroyed during Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip last summer, the organisation announced yesterday.

The UN agency said it had received only $135 million of the $724 million needed to reconstruct the enclave. This has led to thousands of displaced people being forced to live in shelters through the winter.

UNRWA announced last month the suspension of its monetary aid programme, which funds repairing houses and provides rental subsidies for refugee families in Gaza.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing, as many as 28,366 housing units were affected by the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip in July 2014.

The war displaced some 100,000 Palestinians, UN figures revealed, most are staying with relatives or renting homes, while another 15,000 are still displaced staying in UNRWA schools.

Last October, Arab and international countries pledged to donate $5.4 billion to help with the reconstruction of Gaza and provide for the needs of Palestinians.

The agency said: “$5.4 billion was pledged at the Cairo aid conference last October and virtually none of it has reached Gaza,” describing the situation as “distressing and unacceptable”.