Arab, international donors give $25 million for Gaza aid

Arab and international donors have given some $25 million to a fund set up to provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Gaza, the Islamic Development Bank and Palestinian officials said Tuesday.

The bank said the grant would be used for food, shelter, medical help, water and electricity supplies, rebuilding roads and schools and fixing public services.

"The situation in Gaza is an international crisis of humanity of catastrophic proportions pushing the Palestinian people into even further despair," Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said in Beirut, where the grant was announced.

"There is an immediate and urgent need for funds to help alleviate the pain and suffering of the victims of this latest insurgency," he said

The Islamic Development Bank and the al-Aqsa Fund provided $12 million of the grant and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development donated another $10 million, the bank said. The international donor community provided the rest.

Palestinian officials said more than $70 million would be needed to rebuild just one section of Gaza and called for more financial support.