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Palestinians walk past a shop selling fruits in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Feb. 20, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Mohamad Torokman.
JNS.org – The World Bank on Monday approved a $30 million grant to the Palestinian Authority in an effort to help the cash-strapped government stay afloat.
The funds have been earmarked for the creation of jobs and other welfare projects seeking to help the Palestinian population in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian economy in both territories has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Kanthan Shankar, the World Bank’s regional director for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, said that the global pandemic poses “an unprecedented challenge with grave implications for the already struggling Palestinian economy.”
“Fighting poverty and unemployment is a top priority for the World Bank,” he added. “This grant seeks to mitigate the [pandemic’s] impact on [Palestinian] households by creating employment alternatives.”