Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:17:59 GMT
More than 20,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the Israeli army in Gaza. |
The National High Committee for Relief announced on Sunday, a day after the committee was formed by Hamas to oversee relief efforts, that the territory's government was due to start giving out the money, expected to total about USD 45m.
Ahmed al-Kurd, the Hamas-appointed minister of social affairs, said that the committee would distribute the money to those who have lost family members or their homes.
"It will be the sole body to oversee and supervise the rescue. We will be in contact with all other bodies, whether local, national or international, to organize the relief," al-Kurd was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying.
"We are a government that is in charge of all of Gaza," he said. "The ministries have budgets, they have funds, just like in the rest of the countries of the world."
He added that Hamas would grant $1,300 for the family of each martyr killed in the three-week-long assault earlier in the month and $650 for each one of those injured, Taher al-Nunu, a spokesman for the Hamas government said.
He also said that Hamas would pay $5,200 for each family whose house has been completely demolished.
He noted that more than 20,000 Palestinian houses have been either completely demolished or partially damaged during the Israeli bombardment.
More than 1,330 Palestinians were killed, including 460 children and 106 women, and 5,450 injured, including 1,855 children and 795 women in the Israeli attack.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has said that the PA should lead reconstruction efforts, which it said would require about USD 1.9b in aid.
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