Palestinians get only 30% of funds pledged by donors to rebuild Gaza

The Palestinian authorities have received only 30 percent of the 5.4 billion U.S. dollars pledged by Arab and international donors in a Cairo meeting last year for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has said.

Hamdallah, the premier of the consensus government of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), made the remarks in a meeting of a ministerial committee for reconstructing the Gaza Strip, which was held in Ramallah on Sunday.

The committee and the consensus government "are exerting tremendous efforts" to gain the needed fund and support to finalize the reconstruction of the coastal enclave, a statement issued following the meeting said.

A 51-day large-scale Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, which ended on Aug. 26 last summer, caused major destruction to housing, industry, farming and infrastructure in the enclave.

In October last year, Arab and international donors met for two days in the Egyptian capital Cairo and pledged 5.4 billion dollars for the reconstruction of what had been destroyed by Israel during the war on Gaza.

However, the construction plan was obstructed due to an Israeli blockade imposed on the coastal enclave as well as disputes between the Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, and the PNA in the West Bank.

"The government never stopped working on easing the process of allowing construction materials in Gaza as well as allowing all the needed goods and products," said Hamdallah in the statement.