GAZA
Japan has pledged $32.2 million to the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the agency announced on Thursday.
The contribution aims to provide urgent relief for the war-battered Gaza Strip, emergency assistance for Palestinian refugees affected by the conflict in Syria, and essential UNRWA services in the occupied Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
According to a UNRWA statement, the donation is Japan's largest-ever single contribution to the UN relief agency.
Japan's total annual contribution to UNRWA stood at $28.3 million in 2014 – a considerable increase from the $15.5 million contributed in 2011.
Last week, the UNRWA – citing a lack of funds – said it had been forced to suspend its cash assistance program in Gaza.
The program had catered to tens of thousands of Gazans who couldn't afford to repair their homes, which were damaged or destroyed during Israel's devastating military onslaught last summer.
The UNRWA said it had only received $135 million of the $720 million needed to rebuild the Gaza Strip following Israel's onslaught, during which some 15,670 housing units were damaged, including 2,276 that were completely destroyed, according to official Palestinian figures.
The grueling, 51-day offensive, launched with the stated aim of halting rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel, left more than 2,160 Gazans dead – mostly civilians – and some 11,000 injured.
UNRWA provides assistance and protection to some 5 million registered Palestinian refugees, over one fifth of whom reside in the embattled Gaza Strip.
