Palestinian Prime Minister Says Gaza Reconstruction Possible if Israel Removes Blockade

 Reconstruction in the Gaza Strip will not be possible unless Israel removes its blockade against the region, the prime minister of Palestine said Thursday.

"The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will not be possible without the removal of the Israeli blockade, which has been ongoing for seven years now," the Jerusalem Post quoted Rami Hamdallah as saying.

Hamdallah made the comment at a Ramallah meeting with International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegates, with chief emissary to the West Bank and Gaza Christoph Duenwald heading the delegation, according to the newspaper.

At an international conference held on Sunday in Cairo, donor countries pledged $5.4 billion for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip following the recent fifty-day war between Israel and Hamas.

According to UN estimates, over 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis were killed as a result of the hostilities, with thousands of houses in Gaza being razed, before an open-ended truce between the sides was brokered by Egypt on August 26.
(RIA Novosti)
16/10/14
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• UN chief in Gaza to launch reconstruction process. (Constructions raw-material will be allowed to the Gaza Strip)

• In Cairo, Ban urges parties to Gaza conflict to end "cycle of building and destroying"

• Qatar pledges $1bn for Gaza reconstruction. (John Kerry earlier pledged $212m.)

• Global donors pledged hundreds of millions in aid to the devastated Gaza Strip on Sunday despite warnings the battered Palestinian enclave remained a "tinderbox" after its summer war with Israel.