Peace Council: Plan to Rebuild Gaza with 66 Infrastructure and Economic Projects Costing $2.45 Billion
The Peace Council, chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump, announced on Wednesday a $2.45 billion plan to begin reconstruction in the Gaza Strip during a meeting of its members. However, officials acknowledged that the plan faces an uncertain future amid ongoing disputes between Israel and Hamas over the terms of a U.S.-backed ceasefire.
The proposal, presented by council officials at an event during the United Nations General Assembly in New York, comprises 66 projects aimed at rehabilitating Gaza’s infrastructure and economy, both of which were devastated by a comprehensive Israeli military campaign over the past two years.
This is the latest plan to advance the ceasefire in Gaza, which Trump declared nearly a year ago but which has failed to halt Israeli attacks on the territory, including a strike on Wednesday that killed four people, among them a Hamas official.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in New York, “It is clear that this is a long-term project. It is not something that will be achieved within six months. But at least it gives people hope. This is the future that awaits you if everyone plays their part.”
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, who designed the Gaza plan, acknowledged that the proposal has faced “various delays in various matters, for whatever reason,” while endorsing Israel’s right to “finish the job” in Gaza if Hamas does not disarm.
Kushner said, “We are just sharpening the axe and honing it, preparing for the time when we cut down the tree. We hope that will be very, very soon.”
Nearly a year after the ceasefire that ended major fighting in Gaza, reconstruction has not yet begun, as negotiators have failed to agree on terms for Hamas’s disarmament and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Most buildings have been destroyed, and more than two million residents remain confined to about one-third of the strip’s territory, most of them living in tents or crowded rooms within damaged buildings amid the rubble.
The Peace Council’s plan, announced today, estimates physical damage in Gaza at $35.2 billion and indicates that full recovery and reconstruction will require approximately $71.4 billion over the next decade.
Nikolay Mladenov, the council’s chief envoy to Gaza, said that he and other officials do not want Gaza to return to its pre-war state.
Mladenov added, “We want to give people a fresh start, and we want to ensure that both Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli towns living across the border have the opportunity to move beyond the fear of violence that has dominated their lives for many years.”
