JEDDAH, 11 July — The Islamic Development Bank announced yesterday that it had released $54 million in new aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The IDB said $30 million of the aid represented the fourth of the six monthly installments worth $180 million pledged in March during the latest Arab summit in Amman.
The aid was delivered in the form of a “loan” paid directly into the treasury of the Palestinian Authority to “help it respond to the fundamental needs of the Palestinian people in resisting Israel.”
The installments are taken from the two funds which were created at the Arab summit in Cairo in October 2000 and placed under IDB management.
The Jerusalem Intifada Fund was created to support the families of Palestinians killed or wounded, and the Al-Aqsa Fund to “preserve the Islamic character of east Jerusalem” and support the Palestinian economy.
The two funds are supposed to total $1 billion. The IDB added that a further $24.15 million in emergency aid was released to help repair 80 kilometers of roads and hospital facilities in the Palestinian territories. (AN)
