UNRWA: $100M NEEDED URGENTLY TO AID GAZA

**UNRWA needs 100 million USD to aid the affected Gazan families after last summer’s Israeli aggression on the blockaded Strip.** (Photo: PIC)

Gaza, 4 Jumadil Awwal 1436/23 February 2015 (MINA) – United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) stated that it is in urgent need for 100 million USD to aid the affected Gazan families after last summer’s Israeli aggression on the blockaded Strip.

In a statement on Sunday, UNRWA said it urgently requires 100 million USD in the first quarter of 2015 to allow refugee families, with partial damage, to repair their homes and to provide ongoing rental subsidies, The Palestinian Information Center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

The statement expressed UNRWA’s concerns about the fate of thousands of families in case it cannot restart the provision of rental subsidies.

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“If we cannot restart the provision of rental subsidies, people, including those who left our collective centers and found alternative accommodation, may be forced to return to those centers”, UNRWA said.

The statement pointed out that UNRWA has received only 135 million USD in pledges, leaving a shortfall of 585 million.

Due to lack of funds, UNRWA announced last month the suspension of its cash assistance program supporting repairs and providing rental subsidies to Palestinian refugee families in Gaza.

According to UN reports, about 100,000 Palestinian refugees were displaced, living in relatives’ houses or in rental apartments whereas more than 15,000 refugees are sheltered at UNRWA schools.

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Arab along with international countries undertook in October, 2014 to provide 5.4 billion USD, half of which to be allocated for Gaza reconstruction whereas the second half to be spent on aiding Palestinians. However, the reconstruction has not been started yet.

On the seventh of last July, Israel launched war on the besieged Gaza Strip that lasted for 51 days and resulted in the death of more than two thousand Palestinians, and the injury of about eleven thousand others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Palestinian Ministry of Public Works and Housing announced that the total units destroyed or damaged by this war amounted to 28,366. (T/P008/P3)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)