FLASH
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Less than $1 billion of the $17 billion pledged has been secured; the steering committee cannot enter Gaza
Donald Trump's peace plan has received only a tiny fraction of the $17 billion pledged for Gaza, preventing the US president from moving forward with his plan for the future of the devastated Palestinian enclave, sources told Reuters.
Ten days before US-Israeli attacks on Iran plunged the region into war, Trump hosted a conference in Washington where Gulf Arab states pledged billions of dollars to manage and rebuild Gaza after two years of Israeli destruction. The plan calls for large-scale reconstruction of the coastal territory after the Palestinian militant group Hamas disarms and Israeli troops withdraw.
The financial pledges were also intended to cover the activities of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a US-backed group of Palestinian technocrats that aims to seize control of Gaza from Hamas.
Funds are missing.
One of the sources, a person with direct knowledge of the peace board's operations, said that of the 10 countries that pledged funds, only three: the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and the US have contributed so far.
According to this source, the funds raised so far are under $1 billion, without giving further details. The war with Iran “has affected everything,” exacerbating existing funding difficulties, he added. NCAG has not been able to enter Gaza due to lack of funds and security concerns.
Even after a ceasefire reached last October, Israeli attacks have killed at least 700 people in Gaza, according to health authorities there, while militant attacks have killed four soldiers, according to Israel.
A second source, a Palestinian official familiar with the matter, said the board has informed Hamas and other Palestinian factions that the NCAG is currently unable to enter Gaza due to a lack of funds.
"There is currently no money available," the board's envoy, Nickolay Mladenov, was quoted as telling Palestinian groups.
Hamas has repeatedly stated that it is ready to hand over administration to the NCAG, which is headed by Ali Shaath, a former deputy minister in the Palestinian Authority, which currently exercises limited self-government in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Shaath's committee is expected to take control of Gaza's ministries and run the police force. According to a diplomatic source, he and 14 members of the committee are in isolation in a Cairo hotel, under the supervision of American and Egyptian representatives.
Representatives of the Peace Board and NCAG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rebuilding Gaza, where four-fifths of the buildings have been destroyed during two years of Israeli bombing, is estimated by global institutions at around $70 billion. The delays in the plan also reflect the difficulties of other ambitious initiatives by Trump, who has tried to portray himself as a global peace broker but has struggled to end the war in Ukraine and is seeing this week's ceasefire with Iran run afoul of high tensions.
Disarmament talks
Egypt, which is hosting disarmament talks, has invited Hamas for further meetings on Saturday, according to a source within the militant group.
The ceasefire stopped all-out fighting but left Israeli troops in control of a depopulated area that encompasses more than half of Gaza, while Hamas remains in power in a narrow coastal strip. The Trump administration is leading negotiations with Hamas and other Palestinian factions on disarmament.
Israel demands that Hamas hand over its weapons before withdrawing troops from Gaza, while Hamas says it will not accept without guarantees for an Israeli withdrawal and a halt to attacks.
A diplomatic source familiar with the talks said they remain deadlocked and expressed concern that Israel may be looking for a reason to resume a full-scale offensive in Gaza.
Israeli military officials have stated that they are preparing for a rapid return to full-scale war if Hamas does not surrender its weapons.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which, according to Israeli data, 1,200 people were killed.
Israel's two-year campaign has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to health authorities in Gaza, and has caused starvation and displaced most of the territory's population. /Adapted from Pamphlet /
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