GLOBAL DONORS PLEDGE $5,4 BILLION FOR GAZA RECONSTRUCTION

Seated at the dais from left, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, and Norway’s Foreign Minister Borge Brende, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, during the Gaza Donor Conference (Photo: AP)

Cairo, 20 Dhulhijja 1435/13 October 2014 (MINA) – The Global donors countries have pledged a sum of $5.4bn in aid to reconstruct Gaza Strip during the reconstruction conference in Cairo on Sunday.

“The participants pledged approximately $5.4bn,” Norwegian foreign minister, Boerge Brende, said during the closing statement at the Cairo conference which Norway co-hosted, as quoted by Al-Jazeera.

Khalid al-Attiyah, the Qatari foreign minister, who is in the Egyptian capital for the conference, announced his country pledged $1bn in aid. While Indonesia has pledged for $1 m for Gaza.

The US promised $212m to meet what John Kerry, secretary of state, described as an “enormous” challenge in Gaza.

Kerry also urged renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, telling the conference that both sides needed to be helped to make “tough choices” for lasting stability.

“The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately, not tomorrow, not next week, they need it now,” Kerry told the gathering of about 30 global envoys and UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

European Union member states will contribute a total of $570m to Gaza, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said. Germany pledged $63m and Norway about $13m.

The area of the Gaza Strip has become a victim of Israeli bombardment which lasted for 51 days in last July-August, left than 2,200 Palestinians died and injured more than 12,000 others.

According to reports, some 20,000 homes were destroyed and thousands of schools damaged by an Israeli airstrikes missiles. A large number of Gazans have been able to return to their homes after the cease-fire, but more than 100,000 people from 20,000 families are still living outside their home.

Participant countries donation

Here’s participants donation list obtained from the Minister of Public Works of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Mufeed Muhammad Husainah:

Indonesia: $1 million

Qatar: $1 billion

Turkey: $200 million

United Arab Emirates (UAE): $200 million

Saudi Arabia: $500 million

United States: $212 million

France: $38 million (gradually until 2017)

Italy: $618 million

EU: $450 million dollars in 2015

Kuwait: $200 million

UK: $32.1 million

Germany: $63 million

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)