Qatar to build 1,000 homes for Gaza displaced
Gulf state to make good on its pledge of $1 billion to help repair damage from 2014 summer conflict
GAZA CITY — Qatar on Tuesday launched a project to build 1,000 homes in the Gaza Strip to house Palestinians displaced by last summer’s war between Hamas and Israel.
The Gulf state, which hosts the exiled leadership of Gaza’s Islamist rulers, was the largest single donor at an October conference in Cairo to raise funds to help rebuild the blockaded territory.
“Qatar made a pledge at the donors conference. Today we are putting that into effect, by beginning construction of 1,000 housing units,” the head of the Qatari project, Mohammed al-Emadim, said at a news conference in Gaza City.
He did not specify where in the densely populated coastal enclave the homes would be built.
Qatar pledged $1 billion at the conference, almost a fifth of the total $5.4 billion promised in international aid.
More than 2,000 Palestinians were killed during last year’s conflict in July and August, according to Gaza-based sources, with the United Nations saying most of them were civilians. Israel said some 1,000 of the fatalities were Hamas operatives and other gunmen, and blamed Hamas for all civilian casualties, arguing that the group attacked Israel from within residential areas.
Hamas and other terror groups fired over 4,500 rockets and explosive projectiles at Israel, and staged several deadly attacks against IDF soldiers through cross-border tunnels. Seventy-three people on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers, were killed during the conflict, known as Operation Protective Edge.
The UN last month slammed the international community for failing to make good on its promises of aid, warning of another conflict unless Gaza was rehabilitated quickly.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
