Following the UAE's initiative of building the Sheikh Zayed Residential City in the north of the Gaza Strip, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is preparing to build a similar residential city project with 300 units in Rafah. Saudi Arabia is expected to pump $15 million into this project.

Mr. Khaled Abdel Shafi, Head of Gaza Office of the UNDP, is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia next week to discuss the final necessary preparations for this project. The "Saudi Committee for Relief of the Palestinian People,” chaired by the governor of Riyadh, Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, is expected to finance the project.