March 02, 2009
INTERNATIONAL donors are expected to pledge billions of dollars for rebuilding war-battered Gaza at a top-level meeting in Egypt today, six weeks after the guns fell silent.
But the donors are demanding that the enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas agree to play no role in spending the cash, which they insist be handled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas.
"We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza,'' Abbas told reporters on Saturday ahead of the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
"We also expect that as in the past there will be one mechanism, the Palestinian Authority.''
Israel's 22-day onslaught on the impoverished territory in December and January destroyed homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure as well as killing more than 1,300 Palestinians.
Tensions around Gaza were running high on the eve of the conference, as Israel warned again it would respond "severely" to militant attacks after a fresh volley of rocket fire.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has said the authority is seeking $2.8 billion to rebuild Gaza and shore up the Palestinian economy.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Egypt on her first visit to the Middle East since President Barack Obama took office in January, is reportedly carrying a cheque for $900 million.
But she said on Friday the aid would depend on how well the Palestinians meet the conditions of the diplomatic Quartet grouping the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
"I will be announcing a commitment to a significant aid package, but it will only be spent if we determine that our goals can be furthered rather than undermined or subverted," she told Voice of America radio.
Alongside Clinton will be UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana, with about 75 delegations attending the conference in all.
Western countries, which blacklist Hamas as a terrorist outfit, have said they will work only with Abbas and Israel has also demanded that any aid is kept well away from the Islamists.
However, the Palestinian leader's control extends only to the West Bank since Hamas seized Gaza in June 2007, ousting Abbas loyalists after days of vicious factional fighting in a takeover he branded a coup.
The Gaza economy was brought to its knees by the punishing blockade imposed by Israel after Hamas seized the enclave, whose borders, air space and territorial waters remain under Israeli control.
The Palestinians say the war destroyed 5,000 homes and caused extensive damage to infrastructure in Gaza, where many of the 1.4 million residents depend on outside aid.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair made his first visit to Gaza as Quartet envoy on Sunday, saying: "I wanted to come to hear for myself first-hand from people in Gaza, whose lives have been so badly impacted by the recent conflict.''
Neither Israel nor Hamas will be represented in Sharm, but donors are expected to call on Israel to ease its sanctions and for Hamas to be reconciled with the secular Fatah, backbone of the Palestinian Authority.
The rival factions last week agreed a plan to work together towards the formation of a unity government.
But Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that for there to be a lifting of the blockade and a lasting Gaza truce, Palestinian militants must release a soldier captured in June 2006.
The IMF said in a report last month that the Palestinians needed to secure additional donor aid "immediately'' to cover external recurrent financing needs for 2009 of $1.15 billion, 500 million for development projects, and at least 600 million dollars for Gaza reconstruction.
Saudi Arabia is expected to reaffirm a commitment to provide one billion dollars for reconstruction, and the European Union has said it will grant $554 dollars to the Palestinian people in 2009.
Donor countries from the January 2008 Paris conference will reiterate a pledge of $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians in the three years 2008-2010, of which three billion has so far been distributed.
INTERNATIONAL donors are expected to pledge billions of dollars for rebuilding war-battered Gaza at a top-level meeting in Egypt today, six weeks after the guns fell silent.
But the donors are demanding that the enclave's Islamist rulers Hamas agree to play no role in spending the cash, which they insist be handled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of president Mahmud Abbas.
"We expect rapid international aid from all parties to completely rebuild Gaza,'' Abbas told reporters on Saturday ahead of the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
"We also expect that as in the past there will be one mechanism, the Palestinian Authority.''
Israel's 22-day onslaught on the impoverished territory in December and January destroyed homes, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure as well as killing more than 1,300 Palestinians.
Tensions around Gaza were running high on the eve of the conference, as Israel warned again it would respond "severely" to militant attacks after a fresh volley of rocket fire.
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad has said the authority is seeking $2.8 billion to rebuild Gaza and shore up the Palestinian economy.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in Egypt on her first visit to the Middle East since President Barack Obama took office in January, is reportedly carrying a cheque for $900 million.
But she said on Friday the aid would depend on how well the Palestinians meet the conditions of the diplomatic Quartet grouping the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
"I will be announcing a commitment to a significant aid package, but it will only be spent if we determine that our goals can be furthered rather than undermined or subverted," she told Voice of America radio.
Alongside Clinton will be UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana, with about 75 delegations attending the conference in all.
Western countries, which blacklist Hamas as a terrorist outfit, have said they will work only with Abbas and Israel has also demanded that any aid is kept well away from the Islamists.
However, the Palestinian leader's control extends only to the West Bank since Hamas seized Gaza in June 2007, ousting Abbas loyalists after days of vicious factional fighting in a takeover he branded a coup.
The Gaza economy was brought to its knees by the punishing blockade imposed by Israel after Hamas seized the enclave, whose borders, air space and territorial waters remain under Israeli control.
The Palestinians say the war destroyed 5,000 homes and caused extensive damage to infrastructure in Gaza, where many of the 1.4 million residents depend on outside aid.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair made his first visit to Gaza as Quartet envoy on Sunday, saying: "I wanted to come to hear for myself first-hand from people in Gaza, whose lives have been so badly impacted by the recent conflict.''
Neither Israel nor Hamas will be represented in Sharm, but donors are expected to call on Israel to ease its sanctions and for Hamas to be reconciled with the secular Fatah, backbone of the Palestinian Authority.
The rival factions last week agreed a plan to work together towards the formation of a unity government.
But Israel's outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that for there to be a lifting of the blockade and a lasting Gaza truce, Palestinian militants must release a soldier captured in June 2006.
The IMF said in a report last month that the Palestinians needed to secure additional donor aid "immediately'' to cover external recurrent financing needs for 2009 of $1.15 billion, 500 million for development projects, and at least 600 million dollars for Gaza reconstruction.
Saudi Arabia is expected to reaffirm a commitment to provide one billion dollars for reconstruction, and the European Union has said it will grant $554 dollars to the Palestinian people in 2009.
Donor countries from the January 2008 Paris conference will reiterate a pledge of $7.4 billion in aid to the Palestinians in the three years 2008-2010, of which three billion has so far been distributed.
Source: The Australian
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