A large number QRC projects were affected by Israel's two-month bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip, a new report reveals.
The Qatar Red Crescent (QRC) Office in Gaza has issued a formal report on the current status of its projects, which were implemented under the direct supervision and funding from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
The reports measure the total or partial damage caused by the recent Israeli aggression on Gaza, which targeted public facilities such as hospitals, schools and mosques and destroyed many infrastructure services and installations.
The Al-Wafaa Specialised Hospital was completely destroyed by Israeli bombings, including its Diabetic Foot Department. The department was the first of its kind in Gaza, which was inaugurated in June 2013 as part of the Gaza disability services development and psychological support programme.
The facilities of the Faculty of Agriculture, Al-Azhar University in Gaza, located at Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, were damaged by 25%, including a water well, the water pump room, greenhouses, and surrounding walls.
Under the Gaza higher education development project, QRC had rebuilt and maintained the faculty's building and facilities.
The Israeli bombs affected a number of homes and schools that were readjusted and refurnished by QRC to fit students with disabilities, under the Gaza disability services development and psychological support programme. Seven homes, or 27% of the project's 26 rehabilitated homes, were partly damaged. The internal facilities of several schools were hit by missiles.
The University College was stricken by more than 80 missiles, which damaged several parts of the campus as well as some solar panels supplied by QRC to light a whole floor of one of the college premises for electrical engineering students.
Fortunately, there were some accomplished works that were not affected by the Israeli aggression, including the finishing of Al-Shifaa Hospital's specialised surgery building, rehabilitation of sewerage pumps and generators, and all the components of disability services and higher education development programmes not covered in the report.
IDB is one of the major supporters of QRC development projects in Gaza after the last Israeli war on Gaza three years ago.
In 2013-2014 alone, the bank funded numerous projects worth QR5.8mn for Gaza's 1.8mn population.
Examples of QRC projects funded by IDB in Gaza include rehabilitation of sewerage networks; rehabilitation of Al-Shifaa, Al-Nasr, and Kamal Adwan hospitals; construction of two floors at the Islamic University of Gaza schools of medicine and science; finishing of Al-Shifaa Hospital's new specialised surgery building; restoration and maintenance of Nasser Hospital; improvement of disability services in Gaza; procurement of medical equipment for the European Hospital; rehabilitation of sewerage stations and generators; furnishing of the cardiac surgery section of the Al-Shifaa Medical Complex's specialised surgery building; miscellaneous medical projects in Gaza; and funding of the specialised medical scholarship for 11 Palestinian doctors in Jordan (2013- 2017).
© Gulf Times 2014
