New Humanitarian: Why some Palestinians are shunning foreign aid
“Grassroots platforms to fund aid and development projects have been sprouting up in recent years throughout the West Bank and Gaza, with more groups purposefully steering clear of E.U. or U.S. money, and sometimes going it alone altogether. This trend towards so-called community philanthropy is a major shift for a part of the world consistently ranked among the top recipients of aid per capita — one driven by fears that external assistance can be a vessel for foreign countries to implement their vision of what a Palestinian state should look like, instead of a Palestinian vision for that future…” (Hatuqa, 5/13).

U.N. News: Gaza blockade causes ‘near ten-fold increase’ in food dependency, says U.N. agency
“At a time when Muslims globally are observing the holy month of Ramadan, more than half the population in Gaza depends on the international community for food aid, the director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Monday, citing a ‘near ten-fold increase’ in need. According to UNRWA, it must secure an additional $60 million by June to continue providing food to more than one million Palestine refugees in Gaza…” (5/13).