EU Launches $1 Billion Aid Initiative for Gaza

JAKARTA - The European Union on Monday announced that European donors had provided about 1 billion US dollars to help with early recovery efforts in war-torn Gaza Strip, Palestine.

The EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, announced the main figure of "almost 900 million euros or one billion dollars" at the beginning of a donor meeting in Brussels.

"Now we need conditions on the ground that allow this support to reach the people in Gaza," Suica said, launching Al Arabiya from Reuters (14/7).

The funds - which officials say include money that had been pledged to help Gaza - will be used to clear the rubble left over from the Israeli military's devastating offensive and rebuild basic services such as water and sanitation.

"The governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, together with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank, are participating," Brussels explained.

The European Union said Suica during a recent visit to Israel "has reached an agreement with the Israeli authorities on the next steps for the implementation of two major projects in the field of waste and water management in Gaza."

The commissioner said donors "want to start with what is called early recovery, and it is very important to show that we are willing to do it."

"But to do that, we need Hamas disarmament to start the right recovery," he said.

It is known that the humanitarian needs of Gaza remain very large.

The United Nations estimates reconstruction will take years and require tens of billions of dollars, as building materials and debris-clearing equipment are still in very short supply.

Representatives from US President Donald Trump's Peace to Order Council, which is intended to help prepare Gaza for post-war, attended a meeting in Brussels.

Suica said it would help "ensure coordination and complementarity in our actions" in rebuilding the region.

The meeting - which was also attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa - also evaluated reforms carried out by the Palestinian Authority in connection with further assistance.

The European Union is the largest international donor to the Palestinians.

"We are aware of the great difficulties you are facing, so I want to acknowledge your efforts," Suica told PM Mustafa.

"It is very important that this reform is fully implemented," he said.

The most politically sensitive reform concerns the Palestinian Authority's payment system to Palestinian prisoners and to the families of those killed in the conflict, often referred to as "martyr" payments.

Suica said the EU was still waiting for the results of an audit to verify the funds did not fall into "the wrong hands."

PM Mustafa himself stressed that the reform program had "exceeded expectations."

A ceasefire was reached in Gaza between Israel and Hamas in October after two years of war, triggered by an unprecedented attack by Palestinian militants on Israel on October 7, 2023.

The second phase of the truce, which was supposed to involve the disarmament of Hamas and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has been stalled for months.