The country’s contribution is the sole significant sign of rebuilding in the Gaza Strip, where some 100,000 people remain displaced 18 months after the fighting, with economic growth stifled by Israeli and Egyptian blockades.
Palestinians wave their national and Qatari flags as they attend the opening of the ‘Hamad City’ project, sponsored by Qatar, in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis yesterday.
The Qatari donations have buoyed Gaza’s Hamas rulers, irking Israel and the US-backed Palestinian administration based in the occupied West Bank.
After the 2014 war, Qatar pledged $1bn for building projects in Gaza, of which $50mn was paid to owners of destroyed houses to fund the rebuilding of shelters. Qatar envoy Mohamed al-Amadi said 1,000 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,” al-Amadi said.
Palestinians receive property contracts during the opening of the ‘Hamad City’ project in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis yesterday.
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.
Palestinians pose for a photo with their new property contract during the opening of the Sheikh Hamad residential project in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis yesterday.
“Only 400,000 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 yesterday that Qatari funding had provided another 1,060 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.
