DOHA: The United Arab Emirates has donated $2 million and Qatar has pledged another $9 million to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, staving off a threatened shut-down of emergency hospital generators in the impoverished Palestinian enclave, officials said on Friday. The United Nations had appealed for funds on Tuesday, saying fuel for generators that keep Gaza’s hospitals and sanitation services operating would run out within 10 days as Hamas and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority (PA) feud.
The World Health organization announced the UAE donation in a statement, saying it would “provide enough fuel to keep facilities running for several months”. Qatar’s pledge was announced on its Foreign Ministry website. So far generators have stopped at three of Gaza’s 13 hospitals and 14 of its 54 medical centers, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
