QATAR INKS DEAL TO CONSTRUCT HOSPITAL IN PALESTINE

Tu 09 February 2021:

The Qatari Committee on Saturday signed a deal with the Palestinian government in Gaza to build a hospital in the city of Rafah in the south of the besieged coastal enclave.

The head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed Al-Emadi, inked the deal for the first phase which will cost $5 million, Anadolu reported. The total cost of the project is set to be $24 million, the report said, adding that it would be implemented in the Sultan neighbourhood to the west of Rafah.

The 355-bed capacity hospital, which will be the first in Rafah, will be made up of multiple buildings with different specialties, including surgery.

Gaza has been under a strict Israeli-Egyptian siege since 2007, aimed at undermining Hamas’ ability to rule the territory after it achieving a resounding victory in the last Palestinian elections in 2006.

The Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, affiliated with the Doha’s Foreign Ministry, implements dozens of vital projects in Gaza in addition to regular distribution of monthly stipends to impoverished families in the blockaded coastal enclave.