Head of Qatar Committee arrives to Gaza to assess reconstruction process

Mohammed Al-Emadi, head of the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, arrived to the Gaza Strip Monday night to follow up on the reconstruction and Qatari grants provided to the besieged enclave.

Gaza-based Palestinian sources reported that Al-Emadi is scheduled to meet the leaders of Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in Gaza. 

The sources also added that the Qatari official will discuss with the local factions the economic and political condition in the strip and the reconstruction process of homes destroyed during Israel's latest war on Gaza. 

On 5 August, Israel began a bombing campaign on the besieged enclave, resulting in the complete or partial destruction of 89 homes.

At least 49 Palestinians, including 15 children, were killed in three days of intense Israeli bombardment targeting the besieged coastal enclave, which also resulted in heavy material damage.

Israel says the deadly assault was launched in response to an imminent threat from Islamic Jihad fighters to its citizens in the area around Gaza.

The fighting was the worst in Gaza since a war last year devastated the impoverished coastal territory, home to some 2.3 million Palestinians.

The assault ended after an Egypt-brokered truce, supported by Qatar and the UN, was agreed upon.

On 12 August Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad Bin Abdul-Rahman accepted his request to restore the dozens of damaged homes.

Haniyeh said in a statement that Qatar's prime minister had confirmed that the reconstruction would take place through the Qatar Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Naji Sarhan, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza, said that 18 residential buildings were completely destroyed, 71 others were partially destroyed and became uninhabitable, and 1,675 units were partially damaged.

Sarhan explained that the value of these direct damages resulting from the Israeli destruction and direct bombardment amounts to $US5 million, while his ministry will count the indirect damages in the upcoming days.