Only 28 per cent of the total funds pledged to rebuild Gaza have actually been donated, the Palestinian government revealed yesterday.
In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the government said: “Donations, made by donors in Cairo, slowed down during 2015,” noting that only $1.2 billion of the $5,087 billion pledged has been paid.
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On 12 October 2014, two months after the 51-day Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Arab and international donors held a conference in Cairo, Egypt, to raise funds for the reconstruction of the devastated coastal enclave.
Former Palestinian Planning Minister Samir Abdullah told the Anadolu Agency that funding Palestinian projects is no longer a priority for the donors due to the stalemate in the peace talks.
Abdullah added: “Donors decided there is no need for the repeated donations for Gaza due to the repeated wars. They are persuaded now that this achieves nothing for Gaza’s residents because the Israeli rockets destroy what they rebuild.”