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Qatar agrees to projects worth $20m in Gaza

April 19, 2016 at 3:12 pm

Qatar yesterday signed a $20 million package of new projects in the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing, Moffeed Al Hasina, and the Chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Ambassador Mohammed Al-Emadi,signed the deal in Gaza City.

“Today we celebrate together the signing of a contract for a new package of projects under the $407 million Qatari grant announced by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani during his historic visit to Gaza,” Al Hasina said.

Al-Emadi said that Qatar has now spent $300 million of the $407 million grant. The new projects include the construction of the first phase of Hope City for detainees and former detainees, a rehabilitation centre in Khan Younis, in addition to the supply and installation of medical equipment for the Hamad Rehabilitation and Prosthetics Hospital.

Al Hasina explained that Qatar had previously funded the reconstruction of 1,000 destroyed housing units and expressed his hope over the renewed support for the reconstruction of 1,000 more housing units as part of the $1 billion grant pledged by the State of Qatar during the donors’ conference in Cairo.

According to Al Hasina, 30 per cent of the money pledged during the Sharm El-Sheikh conference has reached the Gaza Strip, while hundreds more families are still living in caravans.

He stressed the need for an immediate end to the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and the unconditional access to all materials and equipment needed for reconstruction in order to bring life and hope back to the besieged territory.