Palestinians launch housing project on site of evacuated settlement

[Scurrilous]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/632924.html

<snip>

"Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday laid the cornerstone for a new housing project set to rise from the rubble of a former settlement, the first major construction project in the Gaza Strip since Israel completed its withdrawal from the territory last month.

Work is due to start on Sunday on the Sheikh Khalifa neighborhood, named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, which is bankrolling the $100 million, two-year project. It is located at the site of the bulldozed Morag settlement, in the south of the coastal strip."

<snip>

"UAE Information Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, brother of the president,attended Saturday's groundbreaking ceremony.

Palestinian officials say the completed project will provide free housing for 25,000 people who lost their homes in Israeli military actions, together with schools, mosques, medical facilities, a community center and green spaces."

[barb162]

1. that 's one enormous project

"...housing ...schools, mosques, medical facilities, a community center and green spaces."

[Scurrilous]

2. International investors hope for visible returns in Gaza

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/634672.html

<snip>

"The international community will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in the Gaza Strip in the coming months to create large numbers of jobs and jump-start an economic recovery of the impoverished coastal area, a World Bank official said this week.

Nigel Roberts, the World Bank's director for the West Bank and Gaza, said the $750 million in aid is "an expression of hope for the future," but that progress would require changes by Israel and the Palestinians.

The projects will not immediately transform Gaza, whose economy is in shambles after more than four years of fighting with Israel, said Roberts. "The idea is to put our efforts as quickly and visibly as possible so people get a chance to see that things are changing," he said."

<snip>

"The Group of Eight industrialized nations has also pledged up to $9 billion in aid, much of it in the form of private investments, to the Palestinians over the next three years.

The Palestinians, who have made great progress in cleaning up waste and corruption in their spending, must reform their legal system, he said. The Israelis, meanwhile, must ease travel restrictions in the Palestinian areas."

[newyorican]

3. Let's hope this infrastructure is left intact...

but it's too soon to bet on.