HASSAYNA: GAZA NEEDS 130.000 HOUSING UNITS TO SHELTER HOMELESS CIVILIANS

Amman, 13 Jumadil Awwal 1436/4 March 2015 (MINA) – The Gaza Strip needs 130,00 housing units to shelter the hundreds of civilian families who have gone homeless since Israel’s latest offensive on the blockaded Strip, Palestinian Minister of Public Affairs and Housing, Mufeed al-Hassayna said.

Talking to the Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour during a stopover in Jordan on Tuesday, Hassayna raised alarm bells over the 7,000 homeless Palestinians sheltering in the UNRWA schools after they lost their homes in the Israeli aggression, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Hassayna briefed his Jordanian host on latest developments as regards delays in the rebuilding process and the huge discrepancies between Gaza’s needs and actual resources.

He further pointed out the reluctance maintained by the donor countries to dispatch the funds pledged in the Cairo Reconstruction Conference.

In a related development, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, on Tuesday, slammed the UN envoy to the Middle East, Robert Serry, for having failed to work out the reconstruction crisis in Gaza.

The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs voiced disappointment over what it described as a series of “misleading” statements released by Serry in an attempt to cover up breakdowns in his reconstruction agenda.

The ministry spoke out against Serry’s dragging of his feet regarding the need to gather funds from regional and international parties as a means to boost up the rebuilding process.

Spokesperson for the ministry, Ambassador Badr Abdel Ati, reiterated Egypt’s serious adoption of a pro-Palestine position and its unyielding back-up of Palestinians’ legitimate rights.(T/P008/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)