After pledging US$ 940 million in relief aid to Lebanon, fundraisers at the Stockholm conference have announced another US$ 500 million in relief money for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. According to Swedish Aid Minister Carin Jamtin, host of the conference, US$ 55 million has been earmarked for the UN emergency appeal fund, US$ 114 million for NGOs, and the rest for longer term development and infrastructure projects.

Some of the funds were contributed through the “Temporary International Mechanism,” set up by the E.U. following the international boycott of the elected Hamas-led Palestinian government. Other donations will be funneled through the World Bank, which is involved in longer term investment. Most of the donations coming from other Arab countries were not channeled through the UN, but through the Arab League, or as direct donations to the Palestinian Authority.

Since Israel began large scale military incursions into the Gaza Strip in June, over 200 Palestinians have been killed, while 11 Israeli civilians have been injured by rocket fire coming from Gaza.

Aid workers at the conference warned of the growing crisis in the Gaza Strip, as medical supply and water shortages lead to increased malnutrition, especially among children. Unemployment rates are high, and approximately 80% of the Gaza Strip's population lives below the poverty line of US$ 2/day. In addition to this, nearly 80,000 workers in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank are planning an open-ended strike due to the non-payment of government wages. Government worker Nidha Younis, who lives in Ramallah, reflected on the current situation in the OPT, stating that “…all our dreams are cancelled-everything’s cancelled-our priorities are feeding ourselves and just living.”

UN relief coordinator Jan Egeland stressed the severity of the situation, saying that 1.4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are “living in a cage,” without adequate access to electricity and water. Although he was pleased with the outcome of the Stockholm conference, he emphasized that monetary aid was only a temporary fix, and that a political solution would be necessary for any long term recovery.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas echoed these sentiments, saying “…though we very much appreciate these efforts and clearly welcome them, we strongly believe that this man-made humanitarian crisis is political in nature and thus calls for a political solution."

"It should not be the responsibility of the international community to pay for the Israeli destruction of Palestinian infrastructure," he added.