Saudi Arabia donates $30m to rebuild Gaza homes

Saudi Arabia has donated $30 million to rebuild 900 homes destroyed during the 2014 Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Housing and Public Works, Mofeed Al-Hasayneh, announced on Tuesday.

“The donation is to be deposited in the government’s account via UNRWA and the UNDP,” Al-Hasayneh told Anadolu. He pointed out that the first payment of $10m was deposited on Tuesday. This, he added, will pay for 370 homes to be rebuilt.

Read: Israel to clear army of killing Gaza family during 2008 offensive

In the wake of the Israeli offensive on Gaza in summer 2014, Cairo hosted a donor conference during which several countries pledged $5.082 billion to rebuild the Gaza Strip and renovate the West Bank. As of today, though, only 40 per cent of the homes destroyed during the offensive have been rebuilt, the minister said.

During the 51-day offensive, Israel killed 2,320 Palestinians, wounded more than 11,000 others and completely destroyed 12,000 homes, damaging 160,000 others.