The German Development Bank has signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) to provide the UN agency with an additional €8 million ($9.2m) to continue work aimed at improving housing conditions in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
This agreement comes in the same context as a previous agreement signed in July to mark the beginning of the second phase of a project to reconstruct Gaza’s homes following Israel’s assault on the Strip in 2014.
The project’s second phase initially included the reconstruction of 345 homes at a budget of €13.15 million ($15.1 million). But with the additional funding obtained from the German government-owned bank 566 homes are targeted for reconstruction with a budget of €21.15 million ($24.3 million).
The acting head of the German Representative Office in Ramallah said that since 2014 Germany has offered more than €100 million ($115 million) for the reconstruction of houses in Gaza.
The project is due to last 18 months. During its previous phase 115 homes were built in collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council.
