1,717 billion Japanese yen donation for Palestine

The Japanese government pledged to present donations in shape of aid to the Palestinian government worth 1,717 billion Japanese yen to be specified for financing projects to develop and improve water distribution networks in the northern areas of the West Bank.

The Japanese embassy in Cairo said the two sides exchanged in Gaza yesterday the memorandums concerning all details regarding these donations.

The total volume of aid presented by Japan to the Palestinian government since the beginning of the peace process in the Middle East in 1993 has reached nearly $491 million US.

Japan also said this week that it would give 800 million yen in food aid to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for the Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). "There are more than 3.6 million Palestinian refugees in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, in addition to the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the poor refugees are facing a serious food shortage," a Japanese Foreign Ministry release said, adding that Japan has been supplying food aid to the refugees since 1970.

The Japanese ambassador Jordan, Koichi Matsumoto, exchanged notes in Amman with UNRWA Commissioner General Peter Hansen pledging the aid.