Mideast - AFP
UAE telethon to raise funds to rebuild Palestinian homes razed by Israel
Date: Thu, May 27, 2004
ABU DHABI (AFP) - The United Arab Emirates is staging a telethon to raise funds for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) whose homes have been razed by the Israeli army, it was reported.
The campaign on Al-Emarat terrestrial and satellite channel is organized by the UAE Red Crescent Society with the aim of collecting funds to rebuild more than 400 houses demolished by Israel, the state WAM news agency reported.
The eight-hour telethon, part of a drive ordered by President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan, will feature live broadcasts from major shopping malls.
Red Crescent staff will be deployed at 80 spots throughout the country and outside mosques to collect donations, said Red Crescent chief Khalifa Nasser al-Swaidi.
The Israeli army carried out a mass program of demolition in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, scene of a week-long raid that ended Monday and claimed the lives of more than 40 Palestinians.
The army said in a statement that "approximately 56 structures" had been destroyed, but an AFP correspondent reported that more than 100 buildings had been either razed to the ground or were now too dangerous to live in.
The United Nations (news - web sites) Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Tuesday that 575 Rafah residents had been left homeless as a result of the raid. A total of 1,960 residents have lost their homes since May 1.
UNRWA says more than 11,000 people have been made homeless by Israeli house demolitions in Rafah since the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000.
The UAE Red Crescent on Thursday also distributed relief aid to Palestinian families in the Gaza district of Khan Yunis, WAM said.
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