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Saudi Arabia King is donating $1 billion to help Gaza

by Yuliya Talmazan | January 19, 2009 at 04:14 pm

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Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saudthe, the king of Saudi Arabia, has offered $1 billion in financial support for the rebuilding efforts in Gaza Strip. The King has also warned Israel that the peace option will not always be on the negotiation table, and must be appreciated.

Saudi King Abdullah urged Arab countries to end that rift during an Arab economic summit in Kuwait. He blamed Israel for the Gaza crisis, while pledging $1 billion to rebuild the coastal strip, and invited the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Syria to lunch after the meeting's opening session.

The king said his country's $1 billion donation for Gaza would go to a proposed fund Arabs are setting up to rebuild the seaside territory.

The Arab world has struggled to come up with a unified response to the Gaza crisis — with strong Hamas supporters like Iran and Syria facing off against U.S. allies like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.