JEDDAH, 2 March — The Islamic Development Bank said it approved $43 million from Al-Aqsa and the Intifada Funds set up by Arab leaders to support Palestinians in the occupied lands who continue to suffer under Israeli blockade.
IDB President Dr. Ahmad Muhammad Ali said $29 million within Al-Aqsa Fund has been sanctioned to repair damaged hospitals and homes and finance small projects to help the Palestinians who lost their businesses as a result of the closure.
Speaking here yesterday to journalists from Muslim countries covering Haj as guests of the Saudi Ministry of Information, Dr. Ali said the bank also approved $14 million within the Intifada Fund to support families of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli soldiers during the ongoing uprising, pay for medical treatment and rehabilitation of the injured and secure urgent assistance to university students.
Arab leaders during an emergency summit in Cairo approved the funds.
Saudi Arabia pledged one quarter of Al-Aqsa Fund or $250 million with other Arab countries promising varying amounts.
Palestinian officials have warned that the Palestinian Authority may collapse if it doesn’t receive sufficient aid. Arab finance ministers agreed in November on a mechanism to pay out up to $1 billion but the Palestinians have said that less than a tenth of it has been handed over.
The aid covers various programs including aid for families of the injured or killed, medical equipment, house rebuilding, grain storage facilities and a survey of Palestinian Islamic properties.
Dr. Ali said since its foundation 25 years ago the IDB has given more than $24 billion to 53 Muslim countries and communities in non-member states to help finance economic and social projects in addition to grants and scholarships to Muslim students.
He said under the Kingdom’s sacrificial meat utilization project, the IDB has made available 650,000 heads of sheep for pilgrims to slaughter during Haj next week.
Part of the meat will be frozen and shipped for distribution among the Muslim poor in nearly 30 countries stretching from West Africa to Asia.
