Gaza Strip following IDF operation
צילום: AP
Telethon for Gaza raises $0.5 billion
Some 50 Arab TV stations participate in special broadcast raising funds for aid to Gaza Strip. Over 50 ambulances donated to Palestinian healthcare services
Last weekend some 50 TV stations from across the Arab world joined forces for a special broadcast dedicated to the Gaza Strip, with the united goal of collecting donations for its residents.
The results of the special broadcast exceeded all the organizers' expectations.
On Friday, the first day of the special donations campaign, about half a billion dollars were collected from citizens of the Arab world, and Arabs and Muslims living abroad. The money was deposited in bank accounts opened especially for this purpose.
Fifty ambulances were also donated to the Gaza Strip healthcare services on the first day of the telethon, and the number is estimated to rise in coming days.
The Arab Producers' Union is behind the event, to which it has allocated no less than 12 studies. Arab celebrities participated in the telethon in order to boost the campaign.
It should be noted that initial Palestinian Authority and international organizations estimates of the economic damage caused to the Gaza Strip were set at about $2 million.
Aid to the Strip and its economic rehabilitation will hold a high spot on the list of issues to be discussed at the upcoming Arab economic summit in Kuwait this week.
Arab leaders will attend the summit, and calls for the establishment of a special Arab investments fund for the rehabilitation of the Strip have already been made.
Dr. Gil Feiler is founder and managing director of Info-Prod Research (Middle East) Ltd, and Doron Peskin is head of research
