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A Palestinian woman sitting on the rubble of her house
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By
Reda Hammad, IOL Correspondent
DUBAI,
May 23 (IslamOnline.net) - In the first such Arab move, United Arab
Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nuhayyan ordered
the UAE Red Crescent to reconstruct 400 of the Palestinians' homes
razed by Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip town of Rafah and
al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City.
This
comes within a wider campaign championed by the UAE to help out the
distressed Palestinians and is the first practical decision by an Arab
state to alleviate some of the long-standing sufferings of the
Palestinian people.
Sources
close to the UAE Red Crescent told IslamOnline.net Sunday, March 23,
that technical committees will soon head to Gaza Strip to coordinate
with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) the houses constructions.
Whether
the new houses will be rebuilt on the ruins of the demolished ones,
Rafah governor Majid al-Agha said, "I can not determine that now.
"The
Israelis are still in the town, anyway. The displaced will be hosted
at schools buildings for now, and those who may find a house to rent
can move in and we pay the rent whether through UNRWA or the
Palestinian Authority."
Israel
has launched a fierce aggression on the southern Gaza Strip town of
Rafah last week, killing some 57 people
,
wounding some 300 others, driving about 1500 families homeless,
forcing them to resort to schools or public squares for shelter after
their houses were completely or partially demolished.
On
Saturday, May 22, Peter Hansen, the UNRWA chief, toured Rafah and said
the size of destruction "seems to be approaching Jenin,"
referring to Israel's biggest offensive
launched in the Palestinian territories since the 1967 war.
Wider
UAE Campaign
Zayed
did not attend the Arab summit
,
wrapped up in Tunisia Sunday, May 23, where the Arab leaders issued a
separate statement condemning the "barbaric aggressions" by
the Israeli occupation forces in Rafah, but fell short of providing
concrete assistance to the beleaguered Palestinians.
Head
of the UAE Red Crescent, Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al- Nuhayyan, also
Deputy Premier and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said the
group is launching a broader regional campaign to raise donations to
help alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinian people.
In
a statement, a copy of which was obtained by IOL, Sheikh Hamdan
appealed to whose financially able, inside and outside the UAE, to
donate money "to alleviate the intensity of the catastrophe and
the pain suffered by our brothers, the Palestinian people, due to the
savage Israeli aggression."
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Destruction in Rafah, according to UNRWA chief, approached Jenin
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The
campaign, to be launched Sunday, also aims at reconstructing
hospitals, schools, mosques and other utilities destroyed by the
Israeli occupation forces during their latest onslaught on Rafah.
It
seeks to assist "children, women and old people who are now
homeless to cope with the harsh conditions they found themselves
in".
Sheikh
Hamdan further pointed out that the UAE Red Crescent dedicated two
bank accounts at the Dubai (5346754) and Abu Dhabi (20000417) Islamic
banks for donations to the campaign under the name "Rescuing
Palestine."
Sheikh
Zayed has undertaken the reconstruction of Jenin refugee camp
destroyed by Israel in 2002.
The
UAE Red Crescent is in charge of the reconstruction process under the
supervision of UNRWA.
The
project cost is estimated at 27 million dollars and is expected to be
finish in October this year.
The
Jenin Refugee Camp reconstruction project aims at building 435 homes,
a school housing 26 classes and two social centers. 380 houses have
already been finished and delivered to their owners.
