USA ANNOUNCES $50 MILLION AID PROGRAM FOR THE GAZA STRIP: USA officials said the money will be used over five years to provide basic humanitarian assistance and create jobs. It will be distributed by the USA Agency for International Development in partnership with Catholic Relief Services. The USA Consul General in Jerusalem, Donald Blume, said the effort is meant to address "the dire needs that are obvious in Gaza." Gaza's economy has sharply declined since the Islamic terrorist group Hamas took over the coastal territory nearly a decade ago. Unemployment there is estimated to be over 40%. The USA considers Hamas a terror organization and has no official relations with the group. (Arutz-7) 

B/B Segal Commentary:  How tragic that Hamas has used billions of dollars of foreign aid money to build terrorist attack tunnels into Israel, to buy and use weapons against the Jewish state, and to pad their own pockets. So much could have been done to build up the suffering Gaza Strip society, to provide jobs, homes, schools, and much more. Instead, Hamas continues to feed its men, women and children on hate and jihad. An entire population is starving on such a diet. Pray that Hamas will be overthrown and that others with a positive eye towards rebuilding the Gaza Strip and co-operating with Israel will be put in place.