New appeal for Rafah rebuilding, emergency aid
UNRWA has launched an appeal for $45 million for emergency aid, building repairs and housing construction in Rafah, Gaza. This special appeal includes some $40 million for needs that remain unfunded from previous Agency appeals. This is in addition to the Agency’s regular program of health, education, food distribution and social services for tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees in the Rafah area.
The Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates has pledged financial support to build 400 replacement homes in Gaza but the size of the donation has yet to be finalized. The UAE Red Crescent in 2002 gave $27 million to UNRWA for the Jenin Rehabilitation Project which is due for completion in October 2004.
Among the houses damaged in Rafah in the spring of 2004 are 69 in Tel el Sultan which house refugees who returned to Gaza after being cut off in Egypt for 18 years. One home was demolished by actions of the Israeli army. These homes were partially paid for by the Government of Canada in order to help relocate 4,500 refugees and reunite families in the Gaza Strip. Infrastructure in the area which was also heavily damaged was paid for by Canada and Kuwait. (See al-Majdal No. 19, September 2003 “Don’t confuse relocation with return—18 years to move two kilometers”.)
Other elements of UNRWA new appeal include:
cash assistance for 760 families, a one-time payment of $300 per family to provide for immediate economic needs;
temporary accommodation funds for 560 families made homeless by the most recent Israeli attacks in Rafah;
food for one month and money for household needs such as furniture;
funds for additional medical supplies plus prosthetic devices; and
almost $1 million to repair damaged infrastructure including sewage and water systems.
UNRWA reports at 75 per cent of Gaza’s population is living below the poverty line and some 40 per cent of the labor force is unemployed. Conditions are even more acute in Rafah, says UNRWA. “This Supplementary Appeal for Rafah does not absolve Israel of its responsibility to uphold international humanitariam law, and in particular its legal obligations to respect the human rights and protect the well-being of the population in the occupied territory,” said UNRWA in announcing the appeal.
World Food Programme to feed half million Palestinians
The UN’s World Food Programme has launched an emergency operation to feed about 500,000 non-refugees in the West Bank and Gaza. WFP says these
Palestinians can no longer afford their basic needs amid dramatically deteriorating living conditions in the occupied territories. “The situation is quite alarming and an increasing number of families over the past six months have been forced to reduce their food intake to make ends meet.”