GAZA CITY
The UN's agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) – citing insufficient funds – has halted financial aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip whose homes were damaged or destroyed during Israel's devastating 51-day military onslaught last summer.
"UNRWA has been forced to suspend its cash assistance program in Gaza to tens of thousands of people for repairs to damaged and destroyed homes and for rental subsidies to the homeless," the organization declared on Tuesday.
"Over 96,000 Palestine refugee family homes were damaged or destroyed during last summer's conflict," the UNRWA asserted, adding that some $720 million was required "to address this need."
"To date, UNRWA has received only $135 million in pledges, leaving a shortfall of $585 million," the agency added.
UNRWA Director Robert Turner told Anadolu Agency that the organization's budget for reconstruction in the war-battered Gaza Strip would run out by the end of this month.
In December of last year, the agency called on the international community to earmark $414 million to support Palestinian refugees in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip.
During Israel's seven-week onslaught last summer, 15,671 housing units were damaged across the coastal strip, including 2,276 that were completely destroyed, according to official Palestinian figures.
The offensive, launched with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from Gaza, left more than 2,160 Gazans dead, mostly civilians, and some 11,000 injured.
UNRWA provides assistance and protection for some 5 million registered Palestinian refugees, over a fifth of whom are in the Gaza Strip.
