12 may 2014
Israeli authorities have allowed the implementation of 26 new projects in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian official said Monday.
Palestinian Authority crossings director Nathmi Mhanna told Ma’an that Israel approved 26 projects, among them 12 for UNRWA, the UN's Palestine refugee agency.
Mhanna added that 2 million shekels in 1 shekel and half-shekel coins were also allowed to enter.
Palestinian Authority crossings director Nathmi Mhanna told Ma’an that Israel approved 26 projects, among them 12 for UNRWA, the UN's Palestine refugee agency.
Mhanna added that 2 million shekels in 1 shekel and half-shekel coins were also allowed to enter.
Dr. Mohammed al-Farra, the Minister of Local Government in Gaza, stated that Israeli siege imposed on the coastal Strip for 8 consecutive years disrupted 156 projects worth over $124 million. In his statement issued Sunday, al-Farra said that the closure of Gaza border crossings and the ban on construction materials have led to a halt to dozens of donor-funded projects.
He estimated the costs of the stalled municipal projects at $50 million, the UNRWA projects at $51 million, and the costs of the stalled Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) projects earmarked for the wastewater management at $4 million.
Al-Farra called on international community and human rights organizations to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to lift the siege on Gaza and allow construction materials' access to the besieged Strip.
The Palestinian unity government is scheduled to implement these stalled projects, he added.
He estimated the costs of the stalled municipal projects at $50 million, the UNRWA projects at $51 million, and the costs of the stalled Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) projects earmarked for the wastewater management at $4 million.
Al-Farra called on international community and human rights organizations to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to lift the siege on Gaza and allow construction materials' access to the besieged Strip.
The Palestinian unity government is scheduled to implement these stalled projects, he added.
8 may 2014
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency on Wednesday reopened a newly-renovated Ottoman-era public water fountain in the Gaza Strip
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) on Wednesday reopened a newly-renovated Ottoman-era public water fountain (sabil) in the Gaza Strip. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Turkish Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Mustafa Sarnic and Gaza Tourism Minister Ali Etarshawi, as well as TIKA officials.
In March, TIKA agreed to fund the renovation of the Sabil of Sultan Abdul-Hamid to the tune of $40,000. The move came upon the request of Gaza's Tourism and Antiquities Ministry.
Sarnic told Anadolu Agency that the renovation of the 500-year-old Ottoman sabil would help protect it from eventual ruin.
He added that the public fountain would serve the people of Gaza and provide them with potable water, noting that the sabil was meant to serve students in from nearby schools along with passersby.
He said he was happy to be part of the fountain's reopening, going on to laud TIKA-sponsored projects in the Gaza Strip – especially the renovation of Gaza's Ottoman-era antiquities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sarnic said the renovation of the fountain would also contribute to bolstering relations between the Turkish and Palestinian people.
Tourism Minister Etarshawi, for his part, said the renovation of the sabil would also serve to reinvigorate Gaza's antiquities sector.
Built during the Ottoman era, the Sabil of Sultan Abdul-Hamid contains a large drinking basin used by citizens and passersby at that time.
It was named after Sultan Abdul-Hamid, during whose reign the fountain was first renovated.
Source: TurkishPress
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) on Wednesday reopened a newly-renovated Ottoman-era public water fountain (sabil) in the Gaza Strip. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Turkish Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority Mustafa Sarnic and Gaza Tourism Minister Ali Etarshawi, as well as TIKA officials.
In March, TIKA agreed to fund the renovation of the Sabil of Sultan Abdul-Hamid to the tune of $40,000. The move came upon the request of Gaza's Tourism and Antiquities Ministry.
Sarnic told Anadolu Agency that the renovation of the 500-year-old Ottoman sabil would help protect it from eventual ruin.
He added that the public fountain would serve the people of Gaza and provide them with potable water, noting that the sabil was meant to serve students in from nearby schools along with passersby.
He said he was happy to be part of the fountain's reopening, going on to laud TIKA-sponsored projects in the Gaza Strip – especially the renovation of Gaza's Ottoman-era antiquities.
Speaking at the ceremony, Sarnic said the renovation of the fountain would also contribute to bolstering relations between the Turkish and Palestinian people.
Tourism Minister Etarshawi, for his part, said the renovation of the sabil would also serve to reinvigorate Gaza's antiquities sector.
Built during the Ottoman era, the Sabil of Sultan Abdul-Hamid contains a large drinking basin used by citizens and passersby at that time.
It was named after Sultan Abdul-Hamid, during whose reign the fountain was first renovated.
Source: TurkishPress
27 apr 2014
Israel on Sunday indicated it would freeze 19 Palestinian construction projects in the West Bank in an apparent effort to impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority in response to a Hamas-PLO deal, Israeli media reported.
Yoav Mordechai, Israel's coordinator of government activities in the territories, said in a Civil Administration meeting that Israel would freeze 19 construction projects that were approved in Area C as a goodwill gesture at the start of peace talks with the PLO, the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv reported.
Mordechai said Palestinians had started an "intifada" of illegal construction in the West Bank.
"It is our duty to apply the law on everyone including illegal settlement (outpost) construction in the West Bank," Mordechai said.
The move to freeze Palestinian construction in the West Bank would mark a third measure of sanctions against the PA since the beginning of April. On April 9, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu gave orders to Israeli officials to cut all contact with PA officials, allowing only "security coordination" to continue. The next day, Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues to the PA.
Yoav Mordechai, Israel's coordinator of government activities in the territories, said in a Civil Administration meeting that Israel would freeze 19 construction projects that were approved in Area C as a goodwill gesture at the start of peace talks with the PLO, the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv reported.
Mordechai said Palestinians had started an "intifada" of illegal construction in the West Bank.
"It is our duty to apply the law on everyone including illegal settlement (outpost) construction in the West Bank," Mordechai said.
The move to freeze Palestinian construction in the West Bank would mark a third measure of sanctions against the PA since the beginning of April. On April 9, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu gave orders to Israeli officials to cut all contact with PA officials, allowing only "security coordination" to continue. The next day, Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues to the PA.
On Wednesday, the Fatah-led PLO and Hamas announced a national unity deal to end seven years of political division between the largest two Palestinian parties.
The deal infuriated Israel, which halted peace talks with the Palestinians and vowed other unspecified "measures" in response.
Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
There are some 100 settler outposts erected around the West Bank without Israeli government authorization.
Israel quietly "legalized" several outposts in 2012, according to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now.
The international community regards all Israeli construction in Palestinian territory as illegal, whether government-approved or not.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The deal infuriated Israel, which halted peace talks with the Palestinians and vowed other unspecified "measures" in response.
Israel rarely grants Palestinians permits to build in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It has demolished at least 27,000 Palestinian homes and structures since occupying the West Bank in 1967, according to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.
There are some 100 settler outposts erected around the West Bank without Israeli government authorization.
Israel quietly "legalized" several outposts in 2012, according to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now.
The international community regards all Israeli construction in Palestinian territory as illegal, whether government-approved or not.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
22 apr 2014
Qatar Red Crescent will make 47 schools and 26 homes in different parts of the Gaza Strip suitable for disabled students, a press release issued by the organisation said yesterday. Funds for the $250,000 project are being provided by Al-Fakhoura Campaign and the Programme of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Reconstruction of Gaza, through the project’s coordinator, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
QRC Secretary-General Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi expressed his happiness over the launch of the project, which will help students with motor impairments to socialise and reduce their exposure to risks due to immobility, together with the adverse economic conditions of their families.
Dr Akram Nassar, the head of QRC’s office in Gaza, said that the organisation coordinated with competent authorities including the ministries of education and social affairs, to survey needs and began repairing homes, building rooms furnished with disabled-friendly wardrobes, desks, and beds. The project, he added, involves adapting school environments for the disabled, specially designed corridors, entrances, bathrooms, and classrooms.
Source: The Peninsula
QRC Secretary-General Saleh bin Ali Al Mohannadi expressed his happiness over the launch of the project, which will help students with motor impairments to socialise and reduce their exposure to risks due to immobility, together with the adverse economic conditions of their families.
Dr Akram Nassar, the head of QRC’s office in Gaza, said that the organisation coordinated with competent authorities including the ministries of education and social affairs, to survey needs and began repairing homes, building rooms furnished with disabled-friendly wardrobes, desks, and beds. The project, he added, involves adapting school environments for the disabled, specially designed corridors, entrances, bathrooms, and classrooms.
Source: The Peninsula
17 apr 2014
Prime Minister Ismail Haneya thanked the Egyptian authorities on Wednesday for facilitating the entry of a Qatari grant in the form of construction materials to rebuild the Gaza district, MENA reported. Haneya, in a press conference following an inspection of the Qatari grant's construction work, called on Egyptian authorities to permanently reopen the Rafah border crossing, the land passage between Gaza and Egypt which the latter has maintained severely restricted access to since last July.
"The call for the opening of the crossing comes out of love for Egypt and the recognition of its historic role in supporting the Palestinian cause," Haneya added.
Following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian army destroyed hundreds of tunnels running beneath the border through which construction materials and fuel were transferred. This caused the Gaza Strip's worst ever energy crisis, with power outages lasting up to 16 hours a day.
In March, Hamas described the closure of the Rafah crossing as a "crime against humanity," and the UN criticised it for its effect on "the civilian population, including patients awaiting medical treatment".
Egyptian authorities have maintained that they were protecting their own land from a spike in terrorist attacks that targeted police and army personnel in Sinai and extended to other governorates across Egypt.
In March, an Egyptian court also banned all activities in Egypt by Hamas pending a court verdict in an espionage case involving ousted president Morsi and 36 members of his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as members of the Islamist Palestinian group.
The prosecution accuses the Brotherhood members of collaborating with Gaza rulers Hamas, Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and other organisations "inside and outside" Egypt to smuggle arms, organise military training for group members in the Gaza Strip, and fund a scheme to stir chaos and threaten national security in Egypt.
Hamas has denied any involvement in prison breaks or illegal cooperation with the ousted Islamist leader.
The move also comes amid growing tension between Egypt and Qatar.
Qatari-Egyptian relations have deteriorated since Morsi was overthrown, as the Qatari government supported him and his Muslim Brotherhood during the Islamist president's troubled one-year rule.
Egypt's interim authorities have since accused Qatar and its satellite TV station Al-Jazeera of being biased in favour of the outlawed Brotherhood, which was deemed a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in December, a decision that was later upheld by a Cairo court in February.
Despite the recent fallout, speaking at the Arab League summit in Kuwait last February, Qatari Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad insisted that his country was keen on maintaining strong relations with Egypt, stressing "the brotherly links" between the two countries.
Source: ahramonline
"The call for the opening of the crossing comes out of love for Egypt and the recognition of its historic role in supporting the Palestinian cause," Haneya added.
Following the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the Egyptian army destroyed hundreds of tunnels running beneath the border through which construction materials and fuel were transferred. This caused the Gaza Strip's worst ever energy crisis, with power outages lasting up to 16 hours a day.
In March, Hamas described the closure of the Rafah crossing as a "crime against humanity," and the UN criticised it for its effect on "the civilian population, including patients awaiting medical treatment".
Egyptian authorities have maintained that they were protecting their own land from a spike in terrorist attacks that targeted police and army personnel in Sinai and extended to other governorates across Egypt.
In March, an Egyptian court also banned all activities in Egypt by Hamas pending a court verdict in an espionage case involving ousted president Morsi and 36 members of his Muslim Brotherhood group, as well as members of the Islamist Palestinian group.
The prosecution accuses the Brotherhood members of collaborating with Gaza rulers Hamas, Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah and other organisations "inside and outside" Egypt to smuggle arms, organise military training for group members in the Gaza Strip, and fund a scheme to stir chaos and threaten national security in Egypt.
Hamas has denied any involvement in prison breaks or illegal cooperation with the ousted Islamist leader.
The move also comes amid growing tension between Egypt and Qatar.
Qatari-Egyptian relations have deteriorated since Morsi was overthrown, as the Qatari government supported him and his Muslim Brotherhood during the Islamist president's troubled one-year rule.
Egypt's interim authorities have since accused Qatar and its satellite TV station Al-Jazeera of being biased in favour of the outlawed Brotherhood, which was deemed a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in December, a decision that was later upheld by a Cairo court in February.
Despite the recent fallout, speaking at the Arab League summit in Kuwait last February, Qatari Prince Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad insisted that his country was keen on maintaining strong relations with Egypt, stressing "the brotherly links" between the two countries.
Source: ahramonline
When the explosion from a rocket fired by an Israeli helicopter blew off his right leg in 2004, Nahed Abu Safi could only think of one thing. “Who would take care of my family if I died?”
In the end, the severity of his injury meant he could no longer work as a painter. He could no longer provide for his wife and four children and was unable to pay the rent on his home in southern Gaza.
Soon after the attack however, he heard about a housing project that was a US$62 million (Dh 227 million) gift to the Palestinian people from Sheikh Zayed, the founding president of the UAE.
He soon qualified for an apartment in Zayed City, which were offered free of charge to Gazans whose homes had been destroyed, or who had been bereaved or wounded during the conflict with Israel.
He and his family moved in when the development opened in 2005 and remains there to this day.
“Thanks be to God, we have a home,” the 50-year-old said from his three-bedroom apartment in Gaza’s Zayed City.
The development has provided homes to hundreds of families in this besieged territory of 1.7 million people that suffers from a chronic housing shortage.
Since its completion nine years ago, the community’s 71 cream-coloured buildings have stood firm amid Israeli artillery barrages and tank incursions.
Its walls have been honeycombed with the pockmarks from air strikes and machine-gun spray from Palestinian-on-Palestinian clashes.
Yet residents here have been able to carve out some solace despite the turbulent surroundings.
“We’re in a difficult situation, but at least we have a home,” said Mr Abu Safi, whose children have had to forgo school to earn Dh 55 a day peddling trinkets in the streets.
Zayed City was designed to relieve the suffering of people such as Mr Abu Safi as well as offer affordable housing to newly married couples. The development was also designed to be much bigger, with nearly 30 more 12-storey apartment buildings, residential parks, schools, shopping centres and medical clinics, said Naji Sarhan, Gaza’s deputy housing minister.
But then Palestinian politics got in the way.
Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, prompting Israel to impose a crippling blockade of the territory to punish the Islamist group, which is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. The blockade severely restricted the movement of goods and people in and out and, Mr Sarhan said, put a stop to most big construction projects.
There were also issues of corruption with the Palestinian Authority under the late Yasser Arafat that strained relations with Zayed City’s planners in Abu Dhabi, according to news reports published while the development was under construction.
Still, despite all the obstacles, what was built of Zayed City has helped relieve Gaza’s chronic housing crisis, Mr Sarhan said. Zayed City, for one thing, houses more than 6,000 people — double the intended number.
“We are short 70,000 apartments and we still need an additional 13,000 every year just to keep up with population growth,” he said of Gaza’s housing crisis.
“We need more — many more — projects like Zayed City, because support from outside is crucial to relieve our housing crisis.”
Like the rest of the territory, the city has not been spared of war with Israel. Because it is located in the far north, in the city of Beit Lahiya, Zayed City is close to the concrete wall that rings Gaza and from where Israeli forces often raid.
Residents recall several Israeli airstrike that struck one of the city’s buildings during Israel’s three-week war on the territory that began in December 2009 and killed as many as 1,400 Palestinians.
Tanks sometimes loom on a perch that overlooks the development, they said, while fighting sporadically erupted in and out of the buildings between Hamas and its rival Fatah movement when the Islamist group took control of Gaza seven years ago.
“You never knew when the bullet would come to find you,” Deeb Abu Rukbah, 49, a resident of Zayed City who recalled the Hamas-Fatah clashes.
But for Amira Abu Shahar, 64, the difficulties of living in Zayed City are relative. During the 2008-2009 war, Israeli forces bulldozed her two-level family home in the northern village of Beit Hanoun.
She and several of her four children and ten grandchildren were left homeless, but she was able to buy a three-bedroom apartment in Zayed City with a US$40,000 (Dh147,000) donation from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
“I’m comfortable here,” Ms Abu Shahar said from her living room, which her children helped decorate with a coffee table and new sofas. Her new home lacks the memories of the one that was destroyed. But she has attempted to move on, she said.
“Isn’t it pretty?” she said while pointing to her living-room furniture.
For Mr Abu Safi, that comfort also is a relative one. He and his wife would rather not have to live for free in an apartment complex. But like most Gazans, there are many things that they wish they could have.
“We have to live with what God makes for us,” he said.
Source: The National
In the end, the severity of his injury meant he could no longer work as a painter. He could no longer provide for his wife and four children and was unable to pay the rent on his home in southern Gaza.
Soon after the attack however, he heard about a housing project that was a US$62 million (Dh 227 million) gift to the Palestinian people from Sheikh Zayed, the founding president of the UAE.
He soon qualified for an apartment in Zayed City, which were offered free of charge to Gazans whose homes had been destroyed, or who had been bereaved or wounded during the conflict with Israel.
He and his family moved in when the development opened in 2005 and remains there to this day.
“Thanks be to God, we have a home,” the 50-year-old said from his three-bedroom apartment in Gaza’s Zayed City.
The development has provided homes to hundreds of families in this besieged territory of 1.7 million people that suffers from a chronic housing shortage.
Since its completion nine years ago, the community’s 71 cream-coloured buildings have stood firm amid Israeli artillery barrages and tank incursions.
Its walls have been honeycombed with the pockmarks from air strikes and machine-gun spray from Palestinian-on-Palestinian clashes.
Yet residents here have been able to carve out some solace despite the turbulent surroundings.
“We’re in a difficult situation, but at least we have a home,” said Mr Abu Safi, whose children have had to forgo school to earn Dh 55 a day peddling trinkets in the streets.
Zayed City was designed to relieve the suffering of people such as Mr Abu Safi as well as offer affordable housing to newly married couples. The development was also designed to be much bigger, with nearly 30 more 12-storey apartment buildings, residential parks, schools, shopping centres and medical clinics, said Naji Sarhan, Gaza’s deputy housing minister.
But then Palestinian politics got in the way.
Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007, prompting Israel to impose a crippling blockade of the territory to punish the Islamist group, which is classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union. The blockade severely restricted the movement of goods and people in and out and, Mr Sarhan said, put a stop to most big construction projects.
There were also issues of corruption with the Palestinian Authority under the late Yasser Arafat that strained relations with Zayed City’s planners in Abu Dhabi, according to news reports published while the development was under construction.
Still, despite all the obstacles, what was built of Zayed City has helped relieve Gaza’s chronic housing crisis, Mr Sarhan said. Zayed City, for one thing, houses more than 6,000 people — double the intended number.
“We are short 70,000 apartments and we still need an additional 13,000 every year just to keep up with population growth,” he said of Gaza’s housing crisis.
“We need more — many more — projects like Zayed City, because support from outside is crucial to relieve our housing crisis.”
Like the rest of the territory, the city has not been spared of war with Israel. Because it is located in the far north, in the city of Beit Lahiya, Zayed City is close to the concrete wall that rings Gaza and from where Israeli forces often raid.
Residents recall several Israeli airstrike that struck one of the city’s buildings during Israel’s three-week war on the territory that began in December 2009 and killed as many as 1,400 Palestinians.
Tanks sometimes loom on a perch that overlooks the development, they said, while fighting sporadically erupted in and out of the buildings between Hamas and its rival Fatah movement when the Islamist group took control of Gaza seven years ago.
“You never knew when the bullet would come to find you,” Deeb Abu Rukbah, 49, a resident of Zayed City who recalled the Hamas-Fatah clashes.
But for Amira Abu Shahar, 64, the difficulties of living in Zayed City are relative. During the 2008-2009 war, Israeli forces bulldozed her two-level family home in the northern village of Beit Hanoun.
She and several of her four children and ten grandchildren were left homeless, but she was able to buy a three-bedroom apartment in Zayed City with a US$40,000 (Dh147,000) donation from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
“I’m comfortable here,” Ms Abu Shahar said from her living room, which her children helped decorate with a coffee table and new sofas. Her new home lacks the memories of the one that was destroyed. But she has attempted to move on, she said.
“Isn’t it pretty?” she said while pointing to her living-room furniture.
For Mr Abu Safi, that comfort also is a relative one. He and his wife would rather not have to live for free in an apartment complex. But like most Gazans, there are many things that they wish they could have.
“We have to live with what God makes for us,” he said.
Source: The National
15 apr 2014
The World Bank will provide $13 million in grant money for environmental projects in the Gaza Strip, a statement said Monday.
According a World Bank statement, the money will go toward providing "long-term solutions to the treatment of sewage and solid waste" in the Strip.
The UN financial institution will grant $10 million to the Gaza Solid Waste Management Project, which "aims to improve the solid waste disposal in the Gaza governorates through the provision of an efficient, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly mechanism."
Meanwhile, $3 million will go to the North Gaza Wastewater Treatment Project, which aims to construct "a modern wastewater treatment plant and the development of a reuse program to irrigate surrounding fields with safely treated effluent."
"Several residential areas have been recurrently flooded with raw sewage causing property damage, injuries and deaths," Steen Jorgensen, World Bank country director for West Bank and Gaza, said in the statement.
"Illegal dumping and burning of waste are common practices across rural and urban areas causing soil, air and water pollution as well as health hazard," Jorgenen said.
"Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are entitled to live in a healthy and clean environment. Proper management of municipal waste is a priority that the World Bank is supporting to avoid negative health and environmental impacts on the well-being of Gaza citizens," he added.
On wastewater treatment, Richard Pollard, World Bank senior water and sanitation specialist, said that "the collapse of sewage ponds at the overloaded Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant in northern Gaza in 2007 raised critical questions about the long-term viability of water management systems in the Gaza Strip."
"The groundwater is alarmingly contaminated by leaked sewage. While the project was developed as a response to an emergency acute public health and environmental crisis, the new grant aims to ensure the long term sustainability of the facility," Pollard added.
The Gaza Strip has been under an economic blockade imposed by Israel since 2006.
The blockade has severely limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip and has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans.
According a World Bank statement, the money will go toward providing "long-term solutions to the treatment of sewage and solid waste" in the Strip.
The UN financial institution will grant $10 million to the Gaza Solid Waste Management Project, which "aims to improve the solid waste disposal in the Gaza governorates through the provision of an efficient, socially acceptable and environmentally friendly mechanism."
Meanwhile, $3 million will go to the North Gaza Wastewater Treatment Project, which aims to construct "a modern wastewater treatment plant and the development of a reuse program to irrigate surrounding fields with safely treated effluent."
"Several residential areas have been recurrently flooded with raw sewage causing property damage, injuries and deaths," Steen Jorgensen, World Bank country director for West Bank and Gaza, said in the statement.
"Illegal dumping and burning of waste are common practices across rural and urban areas causing soil, air and water pollution as well as health hazard," Jorgenen said.
"Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are entitled to live in a healthy and clean environment. Proper management of municipal waste is a priority that the World Bank is supporting to avoid negative health and environmental impacts on the well-being of Gaza citizens," he added.
On wastewater treatment, Richard Pollard, World Bank senior water and sanitation specialist, said that "the collapse of sewage ponds at the overloaded Beit Lahiya wastewater treatment plant in northern Gaza in 2007 raised critical questions about the long-term viability of water management systems in the Gaza Strip."
"The groundwater is alarmingly contaminated by leaked sewage. While the project was developed as a response to an emergency acute public health and environmental crisis, the new grant aims to ensure the long term sustainability of the facility," Pollard added.
The Gaza Strip has been under an economic blockade imposed by Israel since 2006.
The blockade has severely limited the imports and exports of the Gaza Strip and has led to frequent humanitarian crises and hardship for Gazans.
11 apr 2014
In another measure meant to “punish” the Palestinian Authority (P.A) in the West Bank for signing 15 international treaties, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu decided to enforce various sanctions, and placed a hold on the transfer of Palestinian Tax money it collects on West Bank border terminals. Talking on condition of anonymity, an Israeli official told the France Press that the decision is meant to pressure the P.A into halting all of its international moves, and resume peace talks with Tel Aviv.
He added that Israel also suspended its participation in a project to develop a gas field near the Gaza shore.
The decision is part of economic and political sanctions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians for deciding to join 15 international conventions last week. Tel Aviv “justifies” its move by alleging the Palestinians breached the condition that led to the resumption of direct peace talks.
An Israeli official also told the AFP that Tel Aviv would be deducting what he called debt payments from tax money Israel collects on border terminals on behalf of the P.A., which has no control on West Bank border terminals.
The sanctions imposed upon the P.A. will cost it around $110-150 Million collected monthly by Israel; the money is roughly two-thirds of income that is usually transferred to the Palestinian Authority. It is used for paying salaries, pensions, and other services provided to the Palestinians.
Israel previously suspended the transfer of Palestinian Tax money whenever the P.A joined international treaties, including when the P.A managed to obtain an observer state status at the United Nations. Back then, the United States also halted the transfer of aid money to the P.A.
Talking to Reuters, Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said sanctions imposed by Israel do not scare the Palestinians, and only prove Israel is a racist state that resorts to illegitimate acts of collective punishment, in addition to its ongoing settlement construction and expansion activities, in direct violation of International Law.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to stop their meetings with Palestinian officials, and to hold all sorts of economic and civil cooperation.
Israel also canceled all VIP permits its grants to Palestinian officials and businesspersons to ease their travel, exports and imports on border terminals in the occupied West Bank.
Also, among the sanctions imposed on Palestinians, Tel Aviv decided to halt the transfer of telecommunications equipment that the Watania cellular company wanted to send to Gaza to install 3G technology.
Israel also suspended plans for developing new Palestinian communities in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under Israeli civil and military control.
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank said it cannot continue direct talks with Tel Aviv while Israel is ongoing with its illegitimate activities, including daily arrests and invasions, and its ongoing and escalating construction and expansion activities of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.
He added that Israel also suspended its participation in a project to develop a gas field near the Gaza shore.
The decision is part of economic and political sanctions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians for deciding to join 15 international conventions last week. Tel Aviv “justifies” its move by alleging the Palestinians breached the condition that led to the resumption of direct peace talks.
An Israeli official also told the AFP that Tel Aviv would be deducting what he called debt payments from tax money Israel collects on border terminals on behalf of the P.A., which has no control on West Bank border terminals.
The sanctions imposed upon the P.A. will cost it around $110-150 Million collected monthly by Israel; the money is roughly two-thirds of income that is usually transferred to the Palestinian Authority. It is used for paying salaries, pensions, and other services provided to the Palestinians.
Israel previously suspended the transfer of Palestinian Tax money whenever the P.A joined international treaties, including when the P.A managed to obtain an observer state status at the United Nations. Back then, the United States also halted the transfer of aid money to the P.A.
Talking to Reuters, Palestinian official Yasser Abed Rabbo said sanctions imposed by Israel do not scare the Palestinians, and only prove Israel is a racist state that resorts to illegitimate acts of collective punishment, in addition to its ongoing settlement construction and expansion activities, in direct violation of International Law.
On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his ministers to stop their meetings with Palestinian officials, and to hold all sorts of economic and civil cooperation.
Israel also canceled all VIP permits its grants to Palestinian officials and businesspersons to ease their travel, exports and imports on border terminals in the occupied West Bank.
Also, among the sanctions imposed on Palestinians, Tel Aviv decided to halt the transfer of telecommunications equipment that the Watania cellular company wanted to send to Gaza to install 3G technology.
Israel also suspended plans for developing new Palestinian communities in Area C of the occupied West Bank, under Israeli civil and military control.
The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank said it cannot continue direct talks with Tel Aviv while Israel is ongoing with its illegitimate activities, including daily arrests and invasions, and its ongoing and escalating construction and expansion activities of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem.
