Qatar provides 1000 new homes for Gazans displaced by war
Date
1/17/2016 6:13:56 AM
(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Posters depicting the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Father Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani are seen on a building as a Palestinian man holding his son waves during the opening ceremony of Qatari-funded construction project "Hamad City" in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip January 16 2016. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)
By Nidal al-Mughrabi
GAZA: Qatari-funded construction projects have provided 1000 new dwellings for Palestinians left homeless by the 2014 Gaza war with Israel and a similar number for low-income families in the territory officials said on Saturday.
The Gulf state's contribution is the sole significant sign of rebuilding in the Gaza Strip where some 100000 people remain displaced 18 months after the fighting with economic growth stifled by Israeli and Egyptian blockades.
After the 2014 war Qatar pledged $1 billion for building projects in Gaza of which $50 million was paid to owners of destroyed houses to fund the rebuilding of shelters. Qatar envoy Mohammed Al-Amadi said 1000 new homes had been completed since.
"Qatar exerts every effort to help the people of Gaza in the fields of electricity agriculture infrastructure and housing including the rebuilding of completely destroyed houses" Amadi told Reuters.
A Palestinian woman poses for a photo with her new property contract during the opening of the Sheikh Hamad residential project in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis on January 16 2016.
Gaza economist Maher Al-Tabbaa said reconstruction efforts were being hampered by difficulties in bringing raw materials to Gaza.
Israel bars the import of products it suspects Hamas might use to rearm or build fortifications although it began easing restrictions in October under a mechanism overseen by the United Nations.
"Only 400000 tonnes of cement have entered Gaza since October 2014 or the equivalent of Gaza's need of cement in two months only" said Tabbaa who is also in charge of public relations at Gaza's Chamber of Commerce.
Officials said on Saturday that Qatari funding had provided another 1060 new homes in the Gaza town of Khan Younis for low-income families.
An Indonesian-funded hospital opened in Gaza last month the first new medical centre in the territory in a decade.