
Mohammed bin Zayed (MbZ) (Photo credit: Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)
President of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced that Abu Dhabi established provisions of $3 million to support the reconstruction of the town of Huwara after hundreds of far-right Israeli settlers torched several of its housing units.
The following initiative was organized by the UAE’s Department of Municipalities and Transport in collaboration with the Emirati-Palestinian Friendship Club, a group that seeks to provide humanitarian support to the Palestinian people.
Muhammad Ali al-Shurafa, the chief of Abu Dhabi’s Department of Municipalities and Transport, met with a Palestinian delegation – including members of the Huwara town’s Municipal Council and members of the Palestinian Friendship Club – to organize the transfer of funds.
According to local reports, the officials discussed several avenues for enhancing joint cooperation in the sector of municipal work.
On the night of 26 February, Israeli settlers stormed the town of Huwara and proceeded to burn 75 homes, injuring nearly 400 Palestinians and killing one. According to eyewitness reports, the Israeli military witnessed the violence but took no action to stop it. The Israeli military estimated that between 300 and 400 people participated in the wide-scale attacks.
Earlier this week, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani committed $500,000 to the families of the victims of the recent rampage in the Palestinian town.
The aid was initially presented to the Palestinian Deputy Minister of Civil Affairs, Ayman Qandil, and the Secretary of the Fatah Movement in the West Bank, Louay al-Saadi.
Following the pogrom-like rampage, EU and US officials issued statements of condemnation, and Washington and US-based Jewish groups considering denying Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich a visa ahead of his visit to the US for saying that the town of Huwara should be “wiped out.” However, on 10 March, the administration of US President Joe Biden granted Smotrich a US visa, neglecting domestic and international condemnations.