Palestinian Finance Minister Mohammad Mustafa resigned in the face of growing criticism of the slow progress in rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Operation Protective Edge last summer, Israel Radio reported.
Mustafa, who also served as deputy prime minister of the PA-Hamas unity government, chaired the committee in charge of rebuilding the Gaza Strip.
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In recent months, he has been criticized sharply due to the slow pace of reconstruction in the strip. He has accused several times the countries which had pledged to contribute to rebuilding the Gaza Strip but have not met their obligations.
Gaza City, home to 500, 000, suffered damage to 20-25% of its housing stocks. Beit Hanoun, with 70% of its housing stock damaged, is considered uninhabitable, with 30, 000 residents there in need of accommodation.
The only power station in the Strip was damaged, and the infrastructure of power transmission lines and sewage pumps was severely damaged.
A major sewage pipe catering to 500, 000 was badly damaged.
Israel’s bombing campaign targeted and destroyed 220 factories in various industrial zones, including a major carpentry enterprise, construction companies, a major biscuit factory, dairy farms and livestock, a candy manufacturer, the orange groves of Beit Hanoun, Gaza’s largest mosques, and several TV stations.
The damage to agriculture was estimated at over $200 million.
10 out of 26 hospitals closed.
Before joining the PA government, Dr. Mustafa served as CEO of the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF). Under his leadership, the Fund has become the premier institutional investor in the Palestinian Authority. He led the launching of several leading national companies like Wataniya Mobile, Amaar Real Estahe Investment Company, Palestine Power Generation Company, Khazanah Asset Management Company, and Sharakat Fund for Small businesses.
