Brussels – “It is estimated that the reconstruction of Gaza will cost at least €71 billion.” The announcement was made by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, during the meeting of the Liaison Committee for Palestine (Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, AHLC), and serves to highlight the scale of the work required in the Palestinian territories, in addition to the destructive force of the Israeli armed forces in their military response to Hamas, which has already recognised as excessive by the international community and for which an international arrest warrant has been issued for the Israeli Prime Minister. “We have been working for four months with the World Bank and the United Nations on this assessment, which was published today,” Kallas explains, assuring that “we will take care of the recovery” of the Palestinian economy, and in this regard, “the final assessment of the damage and needs in Gaza will determine what is required.”
First and foremost, there must be a genuine end to Israel’s actions in the Strip, as further raids would certainly drive up the cost of reconstruction. Then, Kallas continues, “Israel must release the withheld tax revenues: this money belongs to the Palestinian people.” These are resources needed to enable the administrative functioning of a torn-apart territory.
The international community must, however, take immediate action. “Gaza needs money; it needs measures and projects,” urges Norway’s Foreign Minister, Espen Barth Eide, and it needs them now. “While some work has begun, the reconstruction currently underway is still minimal” compared to the sheer scale of the task ahead, he warns.
