EU Secures €900 Million Pledge for Gaza Reconstruction
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The European Union announced a €900 million pledge to fund Gaza’s rebuilding, while EU ministers debated measures on Israeli settlement trade.
The European Union said it had coordinated pledges totalling 900 million euros (about $1 billion) to support the reconstruction of Gaza after two years of extensive damage. The announcement was made by European Commissioner for the Mediterranean Dubravka Šuica following a meeting of the Palestine Donors Group in Brussels, which brought together donors from the EU, the Middle East and international organisations.
“The ceasefire in Gaza remains fragile, and the situation on the ground for civilians is not getting better,” Šuica said, adding that the funds would be channelled through “trusted partners.”
The exact timing and disbursement schedule for the money remain unclear, and the cease-fire that began in October is described as stalled. United Nations, World Bank and EU estimates place the total cost of rebuilding Gaza at roughly $70 billion, with more than 60 million tons of rubble to be cleared.
Representatives at the meeting also included Nickolay Mladenov, head of the Board of Peace established by the United States, Jared Kushner, and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, who called for a “resilient, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state.”
In a separate session, EU foreign ministers debated how to respond to rising violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Options under consideration include cutting off trade with Israeli settlements, a step that would require a majority vote of the 27-nation bloc. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Velislava Petrova-Chamova questioned whether sanctions would have a meaningful impact, while Luxembourg’s Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said a clear majority supports severing commercial ties with the settlements.