Region | Palestinian Territories
Palestinian PM signs deal with Gaza banks to disburse reconstruction money
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says local banks have agreed to disburse reconstruction money directly to residents of the Gaza Strip whose property was damaged during Israel's recent offensive there.
- AP
- Published: 18:20 February 19, 2009
Ramallah: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says local banks have agreed to disburse reconstruction money directly to residents of the Gaza Strip whose property was damaged during Israel's recent offensive there.
He says the commercial banks in Gaza will also handle funding for repairs to roads and other infrastructure hit in 23 days of fighting between Israeli troops and the militant Hamas movement, which rules Gaza.
Total damage has been estimated at over $2 billion.
The mechanism effectively bypasses Hamas, which is listed as a terror organization by the United States and the European Union and is boycotted by major international aid donors.
Thursday's agreement lays the groundwork for a proposal Fayyad will detail at a donor conference in Cairo next month.
More from Palestinian Territories
More from Region
News Editor's choice
-
Ukraine leaders fight over Russian language
Violence erupts in Ukraine parliament over a bill to allow use of Russian language in courts, hospitals
-
CBSE: 100% success in many UAE schools
6,000 students from 53 schools meet grade expectations in examinations
-
'I can’t believe he is not going to come back'
Seventeen-year-old boy went missing in Dubai during a visit from Pakistan
