Palestinian PM stresses commitment to reconstruction of Gaza

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah Saturday stressed that the government is committed to serving Palestinian people in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and the process of reconstruction, as well as merging the Strip with the rest of Palestinian governorates.
In a joint press conference with the European Union's new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who was in Gaza earlier, Hamdallah said that the national unity government works according with the plan of reconstruction approved by the cabinet to alleviate sufferings of "our people in the Strip." He underlined the importance of exerting further efforts by the countries participated in the Cairo conference on the reconstruction of Gaza last month to honor their pledges. Total pledges were USD 5.4 billion.
Hamdallah added that the government has started the process of reconstruction in the Strip, indicating that it will increase the duration of electricity power supply to 16 hours per day in the upcoming period.
The government has started restoring houses affected by Israeli aggression on the Strip, and reforming desalination and electricity plants, he noted.
He pointed out that Israeli incitement against the Palestinian leadership and its legal and political efforts runs counter to Palestinian and international endeavors aimed at reaching a political solution to end the Israeli occupation and achieve independence to "our people." The Prime Minister added that Palestine looks forward to building a real partnership with the international community similar to many independent countries.
For her part, Mogherini underlined the EU's commitment to supporting financially and politically the national unity government and the reconstruction of Gaza in order to improve standards of living of Palestinians.
She renewed the EU stance opposing to Israeli settlement, stressing that the EU will continue its endeavors to support political process based on two-state solution.