Ruling Gaza government pledges to grant special holiday aid at start of Muslim holy month, says will give $50 worth of food products to 78,000 needy families
Doron Peskin, 08.23.09, Ynet

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, headed by Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, has announced that it will be granting aid to Gaza residents with the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began on Friday.
 
The government said it will grant special holiday aid in the amount of $100 to every employed and unemployed Gazan listed in the Strip's Labor Ministry files.
 
In addition, the government announced it will give aid in the amount of $50 worth of food products to 78,000 families in the Strip.
 
Hamas Labor Minister Ahmad al-Kurd said the government will start its initiative in the first week of Ramadan, with some 12,000 poverty-stricken families receiving aid in the first phase of the plan.
 
According to Palestinian Authority data, the Gaza Strip has an unemployment rate of 50%.
 
Palestinians name the siege imposed on the Strip by both Israel and Egypt as the main reason for the high rate.
 
Before the blockage began in June 2006, some 35,000 people were employed in the Strip's industrial branch. Currently, these workers number no more than 1,200.
 
Gazans say 95% of the Strip's industrial factories have been shut down in the past three years.
 
Doron Peskin is head of research at Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd

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