Gaza - Mohammed Habib
Gaza PM Ismail Haneya
The prime minister of Gaza, Dr. Ismail Haneya, has revealed that Qatar has agreed to supply Gaza\'s energy needs for free.
\"We will inform our Egyptian brothers about this offer, and we are
grateful for their continuous coordination with us to address Gaza\'s problems,\" Haneya said. The Gaza government is also discussing a way to receive Qatari fuel by sea.
Haniyeh has also declared that the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah has agreed to take on the costs of Gaza\'s inclusion in the Arab joint power line project. Haniyeh said: \"We hope the power issue will reach an ultimate solution by joining the Arab electricity grid and transferring the Egyptian gas to Gaza, in addition to the recent project of raising the productivity of the Egyptian power line to 27 mw.\"
Haniyeh insisted that his government was debt-free, although it had to pay about $ 30 million monthly to its 42,000 employees. Haniyeh said that the financial supplies were guaranteed by Arab and Islamic organisations, and also from public and official donations. He claimed the donations were \"not associated to any political conditions\".
Haniyeh has firmly denied that his government was benefiting from donor countries\' financial aid (which is directed to Ramallah\'s government), saying his government would \"never accept any donations that may affect our political independence, or ruin our people\'s sacrifices\". He accused the United States of \"using financial donations as an extortion card to make Palestinians give away their rights.\"
Haniyeh said the recent Arab Spring uprisings and to the success of resistance movements in Palestine and Iraq signified a near end to \"US dominance\" in the region.