CAIRO (Reuters) – The Qatar Red Crescent and the U.N. agency for the Palestinians (UNRWA) signed a deal on Sunday, with $4.5 million from a Qatari state development fund, to help more than 4,400 Palestinian workers and patients from Gaza stranded in the West Bank.
“(…) the cash assistance will represent vital support for displaced people who have not been able to return to the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Strip last October,” said a statement from the state news agency of Qatar.
“Thousands of Palestinian refugees from Gaza remain trapped in the West Bank, caught in this crisis situation, isolated from their loved ones and their livelihoods,” said UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
Since Israel’s blockade of Gaza began in 2007, movement in and out of the Strip has been severely restricted, forcing people to seek healthcare, education or work in the West Bank, while escalating violence often closes borders, trapping those in need of essential services.