Qatar has promised to donate $500 million to help with the reconstruction of Gaza, following IDF retaliatory strikes earlier this month in response to Hamas rocket attacks.
Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani announced the pledge in a Twitter post.
Doha has matched an earlier contribution from Egypt for the same amount.
The United States declared it will also grant an additional $75 million in development and economic aid to the Palestinians in 2021, $5.5 million in immediate disaster relief for Gaza and $32 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinians.
Even though the UN has also already released $22.5 million from other funds, the world body’s Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories Lynn Hastings appealed yesterday for an $95 million more to cover “very immediate needs” over the next three months alone for Arab residents of Gaza, the West Bank, and even east Jerusalem.
She added that a longer term package of damage and reconstruction aid would be assessed in the future.
Palestinian officials say it will take tens of millions of dollars damage to restore infrastructure in Gaza damaged during the 11-day conflict with Israel, that erupted after the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organizations launched a barrage of some 4,400 missiles at the Jewish State. The IDF retaliated with air, sea and ground strikes at Gaza until the hostilities ended with an Egyptian-mediated truce on 21 May.