CAIRO — As nations and organizations began lining up to help rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, representatives of several major donors said Sunday that this is the last time they will pay and urged Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a final settlement leading to two separate states.
CAIRO — As nations and organizations pledged more than $5 billion to rebuild the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, several major donors said Sunday that this is the last time they will pay and urged Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate a final peace settlement leading to two separate states.
Appearing in Cairo at a conference of more than 50 donor nations, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced that the United States would contribute an additional $212 million to Gaza reconstruction. The Americans have already sent $118 million. Coupled with $84 million given to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which cares for Palestinian refugees, the total U.S. commitment to rebuilding Gaza now stands at more than $400 million.
Appearing in Cairo at a conference of more than 50 donor nations, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry announced that the United States would contribute an additional $212 million to Palestinians, including Gazans. “The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately — not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now,” he said.
“The people of Gaza need our help, desperately — not tomorrow, not next week. They need it now,” Kerry said, explaining that the money would go toward the Palestinian Authority budget; toward distributing food, medicine and construction materials; and toward rebuilding Gaza’s damaged water and sanitation lines.
The U.S. has committed more than $400 million to aid Palestinians, Kerry said. A State Department breakdown suggests, however, that only a share of the new money will go directly to Gaza. According to the department, $100 million would go toward bolstering the Palestinian Authority budget and $37 million would go toward Palestinian Authority “institutions,” including water infrastructure in the West Bank. Just $75 million would be set aside for urgent relief in Gaza. The United States had earlier committed $118 million for the Gaza effort and $84 million to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which cares for Palestinian refugees.
The U.S. donation represents just 10 percent of the $4 billion the Palestinian Authority says will be needed over the next three years. The bulk of it is expected to come from oil-rich Arab states of the Persian Gulf region, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which compete for regional influence. On Sunday, the Qataris committed $1 billion to Gaza. The United Arab Emirates pledged $200 million.
The Palestinian Authority says $4 billion will be needed over the next three years to rebuild Gaza, which was devastated by Israeli artillery and missiles during the recent 50-day conflict. Some of that weaponry was provided by the United States, which awards Israel $3 billion a year in aid, most of it military assistance.
Gaza was pounded hard over the summer by Israel’s land, sea and air assault on what it said were Hamas targets in the enclave. It was the third war in less than six years between Israel and the Islamist militant movement that controls the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, Qatar committed $1 billion toward the reconstruction of Gaza. The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Turkey pledged $200 million each. Greece has offered the equivalent of about $1.35 million. All told, the donors pledged $5.4 billion, Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende announced Sunday night. The figure surpassed gloomy forecasts that some fatigued donors would keep their coffers closed to yet another appeal for Gaza.
Many of the buildings and much of the infrastructure damaged or destroyed in the war had been paid for with international donations and must now be rebuilt.
Brende said $400,000 would be used for immediate, humanitarian aid and the rest set aside for reconstruction.
According to the Palestinians, 2,145 people were killed in Gaza during the hostilities, including 581 children. The United Nations estimates that almost 70 percent of the dead were civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that 1,000 of those killed were “terrorists.”
He made it clear, however, that Europe’s patience is wearing thin with the seemingly endless violence between the two sides.
“It’s understandable for donors and taxpayers alike to ask why taxpayers should pick up the bill for what warring parties have torn down,” he said.
But doing nothing now, he added, “is the surest way of setting us up for another war a year or two down the road.”
Israel pounded Gaza by land, sea and air over the summer as it targeted Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls the enclave. It was the third war in less than six years between the two sides.
According to the Palestinians, 2,145 people were killed in Gaza during the hostilities, including more than 500 children. The United Nations estimates that almost 70 percent of the dead were civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that 1,000 of those killed were “terrorists.”
The Palestinians say that 18,000 houses were destroyed in the bombing, rendering 100,000 people homeless. Gaza’s population is 1.7 million.
The Palestinians say that 18,000 houses were destroyed in the bombing, rendering 100,000 people homeless. Gaza’s population is 1.7 million.
The United Nations reports that 40,000 people without homes are still be being sheltered in 19 U.N. schools in Gaza.
The United Nations reports that 40,000 people without homes are still be being sheltered in 19 U.N. schools in Gaza.
The damage to Gaza includes telecommunications, schools, sanitation, mosques, hospitals and some of the territory’s largest factories. The Palestinians say that 20 percent of Gaza’s industrial enterprises were damaged or destroyed. Before the war broke out, more than 40 percent of the Gaza workforce was unemployed.
The damage to Gaza includes telecommunications grids, schools, sanitation lines, mosques, hospitals and major factories. The Palestinians say that 20 percent of Gaza’s industrial enterprises were damaged or destroyed. Before the war broke out, more than 40 percent of the Gaza workforce was unemployed.
The Israelis say their military was forced to strike at or near schools and hospitals because Hamas was using the buildings — and the civilians in and around them — to hide rocket launchers. Israel says the war was started and prolonged by the more than 4,000 rockets fired by Hamas at Israeli civilians.
The Israelis say their military was forced to strike at or near schools and hospitals because Hamas was using the buildings to hide rocket launchers — and using the civilians in and around them as human shields. Israel says its offensive was a response to rocket attacks by Hamas and other militants against Israeli civilians.
Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, called the $1.6 billion the agency is requesting “the largest single ask in UNRWA’s 64-year history. It’s unprecedented, reflecting the massive scale of destruction and the profound level of need the beleaguered people of Gaza are experiencing today.”
Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNRWA, called the $1.6 billion it is requesting “unprecedented, reflecting the massive scale of destruction and the profound level of need the beleaguered people of Gaza are experiencing today.”
Kerry said Sunday that nobody wants to be back in two years talking about rebuilding Gaza again.
Kerry repeatedly said Sunday that Israelis and Palestinians must chart a different course for the future or there will be another war, and another such conference, in a year or two.
“We’ve got to find a way to get people back to the table and make tough choices,” he said. “Real choices. Choices about more than just a cease-fire. Even the most durable of cease-fires is not a substitute for peace.”
“Now is the time to break this cycle once and for all,” he said.
He devoted nine months of his time trying to secure a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before negotiations collapsed in April amid finger-pointing between the two sides.
“Israel is right to be deeply concerned about rockets, tunnels and security,” he added, referring to a network of tunnels used by Palestinian militants to enter Israeli territory. “And the Palestinians have the right to be concerned about their day-to-day life, and their future aspirations to have a state.”
Kerry and other U.S. diplomats said some progress was made in those secret talks, though Israel and the Palestinians never looked at maps to draw borders for a future state of Palestine. Kerry has said recently that he is willing to try again.
This is not the first time that Kerry has thrown his passion behind one of the world’s most intractable problems.
“There is nothing sustainable about the status quo,” he said Sunday. “The underlying causes of suspicion and discontent that exist in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza can only be eliminated by solving the conflict itself.”
He devoted nine months trying to secure a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before negotiations collapsed in April amid finger-pointing between the two sides.
Israel drew pointed criticism from several of the initial speakers, who denounced its partial blockade of Gaza and its military occupation of the West Bank.
Israel drew pointed criticism from several speakers at the conference, who denounced its partial blockade of Gaza and its military occupation of the West Bank.
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, called Gaza “a tinderbox” and urged both sides to overcome their differences and end the conflict “once and for all.”
Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations, called Gaza “a tinderbox.”
He said he was at the conference to “stand with the people of Gaza, who have endured a terrible summer of suffering.”
“We must not lose sight of the root causes of the recent hostilities: a restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations,” he said.
“Yet we must not lose sight of the root causes of the recent hostilities: a restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations,” he said.
Ban made only fleeting reference to what Israel considers the fundamental cause of the recent war — rocket fire from Gaza.
Ban made a passing reference to what Israel considers the fundamental cause of this summer’s war — rockets fired from Gaza into Israel.
Despite the calls for peace, Israeli politicians have argued that the status quo with the Palestinians is not only sustainable but also preferable. They say they cannot negotiate a risky peace deal at a time of turmoil, war and the rise of militant Islam in the Arab world.
He called for Israel to lift its economic blockade on Gaza, for both sides to have their legitimate security concerns addressed, and for the establishment of a Palestinian state living in peace next to Israel.
Meanwhile, in an address before the U.N. General Assembly last month, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he would seek a resolution from the world body calling for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Borge Brende, the foreign minister for Norway, which is co-hosting the conference with Egypt, made clear that European patience is wearing thin.
The United States has threatened to veto such a resolution in the U.N. Security Council, insisting that the Palestinians will get their state only by direct negotiations with Israel and not through U.N. declarations.
“It’s understandable for donors and taxpayers alike to ask why taxpayers should pick up the bill for what warring parties have torn down,” he said.
The commitment of donor nations should not be taken for granted, he said.
“We do not have time for the stars to align,” he said. “The people of Gaza cannot be held hostage to negotiations that may or may not produce the desired outcome.” Doing nothing, he said, “is the surest way of setting us up for another war a year or two down the road.
In recent weeks, many Israeli politicians have argued that the status quo with the Palestinians is not only sustainable but preferable for the time being. They say that they cannot be expected to negotiate a risky peace deal at a time of great turmoil in the Mideast and that the rise in militant Islam means that many Arab states have more to worry about than the Palestinians.
Relations between the two sides are at a low point. In an address before the U.N. General Assembly last month, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he would seek a resolution from the world body calling for the creation of a sovereign Palestinian state, based on 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as it capital. He called on Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and its blockade of Gaza by December 2016.
The United States has threatened to veto such a resolution in the U.N. Security Council. The U.S. position is that the Palestinians will get their state only by direct negotiations with Israel and not through U.N. declarations.
Israel was angered by both the Palestinian approach to the United Nations and by the creation of a new Palestinian national reconciliation government that begins to mend a seven-year-long rift between Abbas and his more-moderate Fatah party, which has subscribed to a nonviolent approach, and Hamas, which Israel and the United States consider a terror organization.
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi opened the conference by saying the rebuilding of Gaza requires the Palestinian Authority to reassert its full control over the coastal enclave. The new Egyptian regime loathes Hamas, which was born of Sissi’s archenemy, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Sissi, who had quietly pushed the Israeli government not to attend the conference out of concern that it would upset conservative gulf states, also asked Israel to accept the Arab Peace Initiative, which offers the hope of recognition for Israel by all Arab nations in exchange for a Palestinian state.
