The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said Sunday that Egypt had deposited $5 million into the two funds set up by the Cairo Arab Summit last October to support the latest Palestinian uprising against 34 years of Israeli military occupation.
The supervising bank of the Jerusalem Intifada Fund and the Al Aqsa Fund said that the Egyptian donation increased the total amount collected so far from the 12 pledging Arab countries, to $680.5 million.
In a statement, the Jeddah-based IDB said the payments to Nov. 10 represent 98.2 percent of the sums approved.
A bank spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying that nine of the 12 donor countries had fully met their commitments: Kuwait ($150 million), Qatar ($50 million), Algeria ($30 million), Oman ($10 million), Syria ($7 million), Bahrain ($3 million), Jordan ($2 million), Saudi Arabia ($250 million) and the United Arab Emirates ($150 million).
The Jerusalem Intifada Fund was created by the Arab heads of state to support the families of the now over 700 Palestinians killed or wounded in the uprising, and the Al Aqsa Fund to "preserve the Islamic character of east Jerusalem" and support the Palestinian economy. They are both managed by the IDB.
In total, Arab states pledged $1 billion to the two funds – Albawaba.com
