Qatar allocates $480m in aid to Palestinians

DOHA: Qatar said on Tuesday it had allocated $480 million in aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority to support education and health services and provide urgent humanitarian relief.The authority led by president Mahmoud Abbas has been hit by the cutting of two of its leading sources of revenues. Washington has ended all bilateral US aid in response to the Palestinians’ severing of contacts after it recognised the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017.A row with Israel has meanwhile led to a halt to transfers of customs duties it levies on goods destined for Palestinian markets. Both Abbas and the leader of Hamas, the rival Palestinian faction which controls the Gaza Strip, welcomed the Qatari announcement."The state of Qatar has allocated $300 million in the form of grants and loans to support the health and education sectors’ budgets with the Palestinian Authority," the official Qatar News Agency said.It said Doha had also allocated another $180 million in "urgent relief and humanitarian aid and in support of UN programmes in Palestine." Aid will also go to the power sector to ensure supplies are not interrupted.In a statement on official Palestinian news agency Wafa, Abbas thanked the emirate for its financial assistance, which he said would "contribute to alleviating and supporting the burdens of our people."

from The News International - World http://bit.ly/2Yg2mgz

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