Hundreds of Palestinians rejoiced in Gaza on Saturday after receiving new homes funded by the United Arab Emirates to replace many Israel destroyed in raids to find militants in four years of violence. UAE Prince Abdallah Bin Zayed presented the keys of 700 new apartments to Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip, which officials said cost $55 million to build. The new neighbourhood also has a school, a park, a medical clinic and a mosque. Palestinian vice premier Nabil Shaath said half the residents had their homes demolished in Israeli raids since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. Israel has said many of the houses had harboured militants who used them as gun nests.
"Today is a happy occasion for every Palestinian whose home was destroyed and to every Palestinian who suffered the agonies of the occupation," Shaath said.
The new neighbourhood named "City of Sheikh Zayed" on the edge of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip is named after the late Gulf Emir, Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan.
Prince Zayed was received in Gaza by cheering crowds who rained flowers on him and his delegation. He was flown to the site by a Jordanian helicopter after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Israel's tactic of demolishing homes, which is sometimes also used to clear paths for tanks during army incursions, has been condemned by Palestinians and many countries as collective punishment. The army says it helps prevent anti-Israeli attacks.
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