Israel Blocks Gaza Reconstruction

Gaza, MINA – Naji Sarhan, official of the Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing said, Israel pressured donors to thwart the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Sarhan said only 20 percent of the houses destroyed in the Israeli military offensive on Gaza last year had been rebuilt, MEMO reported on Monday.

He continued several roads were rehabilitated after the Israeli attack, which left a trail of destruction throughout the Palestinian territories.

“No major achievements have been made in the agricultural sector and the economy,” Sarhan added at a press conference held in Gaza City on Sunday.

At least 260 Palestinians were killed and thousands injured in 11 days of Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in May 2021 against the backdrop of an Israeli court decision to expel Palestinian families from their homes in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. Thirteen Israelis were also killed by Palestinian rocket fire from Gaza during the conflict.

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The worst violence in years, stalled under an Egyptian-brokered truce.

While Israel conditions the release of four Israelis held captive by Hamas with the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian resistance movement rejects the connection between the two issues, saying they will only release the hostages in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Hamas arrested two Israeli soldiers following an Israeli military raid on Gaza in 2014. Two other Israelis are believed to have been detained after they entered Gaza under unclear circumstances.

Israel has imposed a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007, severely affecting livelihoods in the Palestinian territory. (T/RE1)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)