Hamas says it will oversee Gaza relief efforts

GAZA CITY (AFP) – The Hamas-run government in Gaza said on Saturday it would create a committee of senior officials to oversee all relief efforts in the territory after Israel's massive assault earlier this month.

The National High Committee for Relief will be headed by Ahmed al-Kurd, the Hamas-appointed minister of social affairs, and will distribute some 35 million euros (45 million dollars) to those who lost family members or their homes.

"It will be the only body to oversee and supervise the rescue. We will be in contact with all other bodies, whether local, national or international, to organize the relief," Kurd said at a Gaza City news conference.

The Hamas authorities plan to distribute 4,000 euros (5,200 dollars) to each family whose home was destroyed and 1,000 euros (1,300 dollars) for every family member killed in the three-week-long conflict.

Kurd declined to specify how the government -- which has been under a strict blockade since Hamas seized power in June 2007 -- had raised the funds.

"We are a government that is in charge of all of Gaza," he said. "The ministries have budgets, they have funds, just like in the rest of the countries of the world."

The Israeli offensive, aimed at stemming rocket and mortar fire from the territory, killed more than 1,330 Palestinians. Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians were killed in the same period.

Both sides declared a unilateral ceasefire last Sunday and Israel completed its withdrawal from the territory on Wednesday.

Kurd would not specify the role the committee would play in rebuilding efforts in the battered territory, but demanded the lifting of the blockade and the reopening of Gaza's border crossings.

"From now on we will not accept a slow death by blockade. We sacrificed in this war... and we did not sacrifice our youth to return to square one."

The Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas -- whose forces were driven from Gaza by Hamas in June 2007 -- has said it should lead the reconstruction efforts, which it said would require some 1.9 billion dollars in aid.