U.N. halts Gaza house repairs saying donors failed to pay up
UNRWA said that the homes of more than 96,000 Palestine refugees were destroyed or damaged during the conflict
The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that it cannot afford to repair Gaza homes damaged in last year’s war with Israel because donors have failed to pay.
“The agency has exhausted all funding to support repairs and rental subsidies,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement.
“$5.4 billion was pledged at the Cairo (aid) conference last October and virtually none of it has reached Gaza. This is distressing and unacceptable.”
UNRWA said that the homes of more than 96,000 Palestine refugees were destroyed or damaged during the conflict.
They made up the vast majority of the more than 100,000 homes that were hit during the 50-day conflict between Israel and Gaza’s Islamist de facto rulers Hamas.
The agency said that cutting subsidies to displaced residents currently renting alternative accommodation could force large numbers back to U.N. schools and centers which are already sheltering 12,000 people.
“UNRWA in Gaza has so far provided over $77 million to 66,000 Palestine refugee families to repair their home or find a temporary alternative,” it said.
“This is a tremendous achievement; it is also wholly insufficient... We are talking about thousands of families who continue to suffer through this cold winter with inadequate shelter. People are literally sleeping amongst the rubble. Children have died of hypothermia.”
Two babies died in Gaza last month as dozens of homes were flooded in brutal storms that brought freezing rain and gale-force winds.
-
Israel failed to minimize Gaza war deaths: report
Israeli army accuses report as 'based on one-sided and incorrect data' Middle East -
Ministry: Gaza bomb hits car of Hamas security official
Unidentified assailants blew up the car of a Hamas security official in Gaza during the night Middle East -
U.S. slams ICC’s Gaza probe as ‘tragic irony’
'It is a tragic irony that Israel, which has withstood thousands of terrorist rockets fired at its civilians and its neighborhoods' Middle East -
Hamas official warns Gaza becoming ‘ripe for terrorism’
Khalil al-Haya warned of the possible consequences Middle East -
Gaza bank hit by explosion
The Gaza interior ministry said an investigation had been opened into the blast on Friday night at a central Gaza City branch of the Bank of Palestine Middle East -
Two Palestinian babies die in Gaza freeze
Two Palestinian babies have died due to cold weather in the Gaza Strip, an official said Saturday, as winter storms lashed the region. A ... Middle East -
Egypt doubling Gaza buffer, demolishing 1,220 more homes
The expansion of the buffer zone is expected to be completed by the middle of next week, officials said Middle East