US-backed Gaza board unveils USD 2.45 billion rebuild plan amid ceasefire strain
A US-backed Board of Peace has proposed a six-month plan worth USD 2.45 billion to start reconstruction and governance in Gaza, even as President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan struggles to hold. At a meeting of the group's board, governors presented a 66-project blueprint covering infrastructure, education and health to support Trump's 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.
The board said the scale of the challenge remained vast. "The need is immense," it said, adding that full reconstruction of the physical damage across Gaza would cost about USD 35.2 billion in the medium term and another USD 71.4 billion over the next 10 years.
The ceasefire, which took effect on October 10, was meant to open the way for a wider effort to rebuild Gaza under the Board of Peace. The plan included further Israeli military withdrawals from Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, the deployment of an international peacekeeping force and the installation of a new apolitical Palestinian government to run the territory's day-to-day affairs. It also set out an ambitious programme to rebuild war-ravaged Gaza.
But the US-backed plan has largely stalled. While the ceasefire stopped the heaviest fighting and humanitarian conditions have improved, the Israeli military has expanded its control of Gaza and now occupies around 60 per cent of the territory. Hamas has not surrendered its weapons. The international force and the new government have still not entered Gaza, and reconstruction has yet to begin. Most Palestinians continue to live in tent camps or in the ruins of their former homes.
The board's high representative, Nikolay Mladenov, has said progress depends largely on Hamas disarming, a step the group has so far refused to take. At the same time, he has urged Israel to scale back its military operation.
A key issue before the board is not only how to advance reconstruction, but also setting a timeline for deploying the international force and the new government, drawing up disarmament plans and bringing badly needed building materials into Gaza. The proposal lays out an initial path for governance and rebuilding, but major obstacles remain.
