Cairo: Qatar will contribute $1bn for reconstruction of Gaza, Foreign Minister H E Dr Khalid bin Mohamed Al Attiyah said yesterday.
Speaking at the international conference on rebuilding Gaza being held in Cairo, Al Attiyah said that the Palestinian people in Gaza were the target of the most horrendous aggression. The 50-day conflict killed thousands of innocent civilians, destroyed infrastructure, houses, places of worship, health and educational facilities among others amid the inability of the international community to stop this recurrent onslaught on innocent and unarmed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Minister added.
The Foreign Minister said that the broad international participation in the conference reflected the international community’s firm vision toward the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
Dr Al Attiyah said that while the Palestinian people are in need of funds for the reconstruction, they are also in dire need of the international community’s political support to achieve their inalienable rights and to establish an independent state. He reiterated that just peace is the true guarantee for sustaining what will be rebuilt and reconstructed, adding the international community, especially the countries concerned with the Middle East peace process should bear responsibilty and take steps to force Israel to bow to international opinion on halting settlement activities and implementation of all resolutions to achieve peace. This, he said, will only be achieved through the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders. Since 2012, Qatar has been contributing generously to all international efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip and has implemented projects in health and education and provided fuel for power plants, the Minister pointed out.
Qatar granted $27m to the victims of severe weather, and provided $16m through Qatar Red Crescent, in addition to $6m given to UNRWA to alleviate the sufferings of victims of the aggression, Al Attiyah said.
He added that $60m were given by Qatar for paying salaries of Palestinian staff in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. Another $60m for fuel to generate electricity was given in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the Foreign Minister said, adding that Qatar provided $150m to support the Palestinian Authority and $450m for reconstruction projects in Gaza Strip with a total of $769m until 2014.
“The participants pledged approximately $5.4bn,” said Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende, reading out a closing statement at the conference which Norway
co-hosted. Agencies
