$1.4bn pledged for Palestinians

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Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad says that he has secured $1.4bn of new investments in business projects in the West Bank and Gaza.

He said the money, much of it set for housing and high-tech projects, could create up to 35,000 jobs.

Mr Fayyad was speaking at the end of a three-day conference in Bethlehem aimed at encouraging foreign businesses to invest in the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian economy has been suffering greatly in recent years.

Economic development in the region has been inextricably linked to the conflict with Israel.

The West Bank has a network of Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks which hinder movement.

The situation is particularly dire in the Gaza Strip where an Israeli embargo has meant that raw materials and equipment cannot get into Gaza, while produced goods cannot get out.

Shopping complex plan

Israeli officials say the embargo is in response to almost continuous rocket fire from the territory onto neighbouring Israeli towns and villages.

Israeli officials said they supported the conference, and had issued hundreds of visas and permits to those attending.

The conference was attended by more than 1,000 business people, bankers and government officials from across the Middle East and beyond.

The $1.4bn includes $550m from Arab investors earmarked for a new West Bank town and a shopping complex.

"The message of this conference is that we are determined to change this miserable situation into a better reality, a better tomorrow, void of checkpoints, settlements and walls," Mr Fayyad was quoted by Reuters as saying.

The BBC's Middle East correspondent Tim Franks says that the announcement of new investment may be welcome for some but the Palestinian economy is only likely to flourish when there is an end to the conflict.