PA Ministry Announces Assistance for ‘Newly Poor’

The Palestinian Authority’s Social Affairs Ministry will be disbursing pocket money and food aid to the “newly poor” by the end of the month. The ministry is currently gathering data on households driven into poverty by the coronavirus pandemic, with assistance from municipal councils. Social Affairs Minister Ahmad Majdalani told The Media Line that $10 million in seed money came from Waqfat Izz (Dignified Stand), a fund in the private sector established in early April, in addition to about $1.3 million from banks. The ministry has found that some 53,000 households have lost their sources of income due to the pandemic, although forecasts see this number rising to at least 100,000. It currently serves about 170,000 households. About 115,000, most of them in the Gaza Strip, receive financial or in-kind assistance on a regular basis, while the rest receive aid when needed.