Saudi-funded UN cash to support Gaza families

The United Nations is to provide financial support to thousands of Gaza families affected by last year's conflict with Israel thanks to a Saudi donation of nearly $16 million, it said on Wednesday. "Over 7,000 refugee families in Gaza will receive financial support from UNRWA to repair and reconstruct homes damaged during the November conflict," the Palestinian refugee agency said in a statement. UNRWA's Gaza operations director Robert Turner praised the "quick and generous donation by the Saudi Fund for Development. "We have never before been able to provide this scale of support for war-damaged refugees," he said. "A generous donation of $15.6 million from the Saudi Fund for Development will enable UNRWA to provide urgently needed cash subsidies directly to the affected refugee families," the statement said. During the eight-day conflict, Israel's bombardment of Gaza killed 177 Palestinians, most of them civilians, while militant rocket attacks from within the besieged enclave governed by Hamas killed six Israelis, including four civilians. The total cost of the damage caused to Gaza -- which included the complete destruction of 200 homes and partial damage of another 8,000 -- was estimated by Hamas at more than $1.2 billion.