Gaza is known as the world’s largest open-air prison due to an air, land and sea blockade imposed by Israel in 2007.
Financial support is expected to cover the marriage of 250 young men and women in the besieged Gaza Strip, Qatar News Agency reported, noting this is part of a gift from the Jassim and Hamad bin Jassim Charitable Foundation.
The move sees some $500,000 being pumped into the Palestinian Youth Support Fund to address the requirements of 250 youth in the Gaza Strip looking to get married.
The Palestinian Youth Support Fund will choose the recipients of the aid, after which the process will be administered by the Qatar Committee for Reconstruction of Gaza. Each beneficiary will repay a loan amount of $2,000 in manageable monthly instalments.
The latest developments were announced after the Qatar Committee signed an agreement in the enclave on Saturday in cooperation with the Palestinian Youth Support Fund.
The chairman of the Qatar Committee, Ambassador Mohammed Al Emadi, and the chairman of the Palestinian Youth Support Fund, Ahmed Muhaisen attended the ceremony at the office in the besieged strip.
“The agreement also includes the use of the paid money to provide other good loans to new beneficiaries of young people willing to get married, in order to benefit a larger number of young people in Gaza Strip,” QNA reported.
This comes as Al Emadi arrived in the besieged city late on Monday to monitor the rebuilding process and distribution of aid to Palestinian families, where the poverty rate in Gaza increased from 40% in 2005 to 56% in 2020.
His visit came weeks after the most recent Israeli aggression in Gaza, which lasted for three days and ended on 5 August through a Qatar and Egypt-mediated ceasefire.
The occupying state of Israel killed 49 Palestinians including 17 children during the assaults.
Shortly after the truce, Doha agreed to reconstruct houses in Gaza that were destroyed, as the Qatar Red Crescent (QRCS) launched more than QAR 4 million (one million dollar) campaign as part of an urgent relief response.
The QRCS said the aid is expected to benefit 60,250 people in the besieged city.
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Public Works and Housing in Gaza Naji Sarhan had previously told Al Araby Al Jadeed that Israel completely destroyed 18 housing units during the attacks.
Another 71 housing units became inhabitable as 1,675 others were partially destroyed. The damages, Sarhan noted, could amount to at least five million US dollars in addition to indirect damages.
Largest open-air prison
The Palestinian city has become known as the world’s largest open-air prison due to an air, land and sea blockade imposed by the Zionist state in 2007.
Israel withholds fuel from the power plant and also controls up to 90% of water in the besieged enclave. Sources and figures show just 10.5% Palestinians in Gaza have access to safe drinking water.
More than 96% of water in Gaza’s aquifers are not safe for consumption, forcing indigenous Palestinians to buy water at inflated prices despite their full right to access it for free.
Trucks carrying good to the strip constantly face obstacles under the apartheid state with key crossings being closed at unexpected times.
Before the embargo, at least 30,000 Palestinians were able to travel through the Erez crossing on a monthly basis, however, the number decreased by 85% as of 2020. This is also the case for the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
Israel partially damaged 70,000 housing units in total during the 2014, 2021, and 2022 bombardments of Gaza combined, costing the city more than $800 million.
