‘Tinderbox’ Gaza wins millions in aid pledge
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GLOBAL donors pledged hundreds of millions in aid to the devastated Gaza Strip yesterday despite warnings the battered Palestinian enclave remained a “tinderbox” after its summer war with Israel.
The United States promised US$212 million in new aid at the conference in Cairo, to meet what Secretary of State John Kerry described as an “enormous” challenge in Gaza.
He also urged renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, telling the conference that both sides needed to be helped to make “tough choices” for lasting stability.
“The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately, not tomorrow, not next week, they need it now,” Kerry told the gathering of some 30 global envoys and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The Palestinians asked for up to US$4 billion in international aid after Gaza was devastated in its 50-day conflict with Israel in July and August.
But there is concern that — after three destructive conflicts in the past six years — any help to Gaza will eventually be lost in the enclave’s cycle of violence.
Ban expressed the fears of many when he said the situation in Gaza remained potentially explosive. “Gaza remains a tinderbox, the people desperately need to see results in their daily lives,” Ban said.
The Palestinian government unveiled a 76-page reconstruction plan ahead of the conference, with the lion’s share of assistance to build housing.
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas told the conference the enclave’s need was desperate. “Gaza has suffered three wars in six years. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed.”
Kerry said the new aid brought US contribution to helping Gaza to more than US$400 million over the last year alone.
Other nations joined the effort, with Germany pledging US$63 million and Norway about US$13 million.
But there were repeated concerns about donor funds going to waste without new efforts at a long-term solution.
“Letting Gaza fester while leaving the parties to their own devices is the surest way for setting ourselves up for another round of war another year or two down the road,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende told the conference.
Kerry’s dogged pursuit of a long-elusive peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in acrimony in April after a difficult nine-month process, and there is little prospect of fresh talks any time soon.
Israel and the Hamas militants who dominate Gaza have yet to even translate their temporary August truce into a cease-fire.
This summer’s conflict killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, while attacks by Gaza militants killed 73 on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
Israel was not invited to the conference but Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said any effort would need his government’s consent. “Gaza cannot be rebuilt without the cooperation and participation of Israel,” Lieberman said in an interview with news website Ynet.
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