Axios: Peace Council to announce $2.45 billion Gaza recovery plan

Axios reported that the Peace Council, chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump, will present a six-month recovery plan for the Gaza Strip costing $2.45 billion at a meeting of its members on Wednesday.

The report added, citing a copy of the plan, that the proposal includes 66 projects and contains estimates for spending on temporary housing, rubble clearance, hospital repairs, economic revitalization, and the deployment of a multinational security force.

Axios reported that the plan estimates physical damage in Gaza at approximately $35.2 billion, and that full recovery and reconstruction will require around $71.4 billion over the next ten years.

The plan also calls for the repair of border crossings, the restoration of electricity and water infrastructure, the deployment of 25,000 portable solar power units, and the permanent filling of tunnels located beneath sites necessary for priority reconstruction projects.

The Trump administration informed Congress in late July that it would send more than $206 million to fund a proposed peacekeeping force in Gaza, marking the first major funding for a stalled U.S. plan to rebuild the sector, which has been left with widespread destruction by the war.

Trump established the Peace Council to oversee his ambitious plan aimed at ending the Israeli war in Gaza.

However, since the announcement of a deal in late July, efforts have stalled, as both Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) have refused to implement the conditions necessary to move the agreement forward.

The report added that the Peace Council and the Palestinian Authority have not yet secured the full $2.45 billion, but both are confident that donor countries will increase their contributions once political obstacles are overcome.