The Prime Minister affirmed, at the beginning of the government session, held in the city of Ramallah, which the national team will prepare to restore basic services to civilians in Gaza, and develop detailed plans to rebuild the infrastructure, including suitable housing, and prepare to launch the economic recovery program in the sector.

He pointed out that the government did everything it could during the past year to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people and support their steadfastness in all places where they are located, especially the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, noting that it continued to provide basic services, to the extent permitted by security conditions, including health, educational and municipal services, and the introduction of as much fuel as possible to operate water wells and wastewater pumps, and it also continued to provide operating expenses and salaries to finance various operations in the sector, which amount to 275 million shekels per month (equivalent to 3.3 billion shekels annually).

He stressed that the government continues to provide social, food and non-food assistance to more than 400 thousand families in the Strip, in addition to cash assistance to about 210 thousand families worth about 233 million shekels through the Ministry of Social Development, in coordination and cooperation with humanitarian and international organizations.

In this regard, the Prime Minister thanked all parties that extended a helping hand to our people in the Gaza Strip, stressing to our people that the government will continue, under the direction of President Mahmoud Abbas, to work to stop the aggression and provide everything possible to enhance their steadfastness.

He noted that the government is also working in cooperation with all relevant parties to prepare for the implementation of the program announced by Mr. President and the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in the Gaza Strip in the next phase.

He pointed out that after a full year of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, it can be said that it was the bloodiest and most destructive year for our people, as Israel reoccupied the Gaza Strip completely, tightly closed all crossings connecting the Strip to the world, destroyed most of the Strip’s infrastructure, brutally killed and wounded more than one hundred and fifty thousand citizens, displaced about two million of our people in the Strip, and deprived more than six hundred thousand male and female students from attending their schools.

He stressed that the goal of the occupation plan in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, is to establish separate systems in each part of it, undermine the institutions of the Palestinian state, and displace our people in it by making it unlivable; this is accompanied by the occupation’s escalating crimes of killing, starvation, colonization, and attacks on holy sites; all in order to facilitate the reoccupation of the entire territory of the State of Palestine, and prevent the achievement of the independent Palestinian state.

In this regard, he stressed that our Palestinian people and their leadership are determined to thwart the occupation’s plans and to complete our struggle to establish an independent state on the ground, despite Israel’s arrogance and the scale of the challenges we face.

He pointed out that despite the hostile or hesitant positions of some international parties, there is broad official and popular international support for the rights of the Palestinian people, as evidenced by the recognition of the State of Palestine by the majority of countries in the world, and the majority of countries voting in favor of issuing the resolution submitted by the State of Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly to adopt the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, followed by the launch of the international coalition to establish an independent and fully sovereign State of Palestine.

He noted that all these important indicators confirm the success of the approach taken by the Palestinian leadership in managing the affairs of the country in this extremely complex circumstance.