The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that it cannot afford to repair Gaza homes which are damaged in last year’s Israel and Hammas war as contributors have failed to pay.
According to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency has exhausted all funding to support repairs and rental subsidies.”Some funds remain available for reconstruction of totally destroyed homes only.” said UNRWA.
Sources revealed that last October “$5.4 billion was pledged at the Cairo (aid) conference and virtually none of it has reached Gaza.”It is unclear why this funding has not been forthcoming,” said a member of UNRWA.
However the Islamist militant movement Hamas decries the UNRWA decision, saying it would “worsen the conditions of thousands of families” and urging it to put pressure on donors to honour their pledges.
“People are literally sleeping amongst the rubble. Children have died of hypothermia.”Two babies died in Gaza this month as dozens of homes were flooded in brutal storms that brought freezing rain and gale-force winds.
A Hamas official warned recently that the coastal territory could become a breeding ground for extremism unless promised reconstruction is accelerated.
“Our message to the world, which is scared of terrorism and extremism, is that the delay in rebuilding Gaza and the continuing blockade against it will make it a ripe environment for the spread of extremism and terrorism,” Khalil al-Haya told a Gaza City meeting of MPs of the movement. “By delaying payment of money for reconstruction the donors are putting the ceasefire in danger.”
Reconstruction has barely begun, with experts saying it will take years even if Israel significantly eases its eight-year blockade on Gaza. It is to be noted that Israel have been controlling two of the three crossings into Hamas-controlled Gaza, maintaining tight curbs on entry of building material and funds.