Speaking during the signing ceremony, Peter Ford, the representative of UNRWA’s Commissioner General, said that 12,000 refugees were still waiting in the Gaza Strip for rebuilding their homes which were destroyed by the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory during December 2008 and January 2009.

“This generous donation should enable UNRWA to make a real difference to the lives of hundreds of families,” Ford said.

However, he noted that the pace of Israeli approval for UN projects in the besieged Palestinian territory would have to increase considerably for this to happen.

“If the Libyans have secured an increase in the amounts of construction materials being allowed to enter Gaza, backed up by large funds to procure those materials, then that is a significant and very welcome achievement, for which they deserve our sincere thanks,” Ford said.

An Israeli, who has been arrested and imprisoned in Libya for the past five months, arrived in Israel on Monday after being freed in a complicated deal that reportedly involved an Israeli permission for a Libyan-sponsored ship to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for the last three years.