Gaza reconstruction limited by funds pledged and tight control

The Palestinian consensus government may have to scale down its plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, devastated by 50 days of Israeli bombing and shelling during July and August.

International donors attending the aid conference held in Cairo on Sunday pledged less than $3 billion (€2.4 billion) for rebuilding. The balance of the $4.5 billion promised is for budgetary support for the Palestinian Authority, which administers the Gaza and West Bank enclaves.

The government had requested a total of $8.5 billion, $4 billion for Gaza’s reconstruction and $4.5 billion to inject into the 2014-2017 budgets. Estimates produced by the government and independent Palestinian organisations have fixed the cost of reconstruction at $7.8-$8 billion.

UN envoy Robert Serry suggested an even higher figure when he said the "volume of reconstruction will be about three times what it was in 2009" after Israel's 22-day war on Gaza.

A March 2009 pledging conference convened at Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt attempted to raise $4.48 billion but only a portion of the pledges materialised and Israel, which had been urged to end its siege and blockade of Gaza, tightened its blockade.

The government, not Hamas, will be responsible for reconstruction. The early recovery plan allocates $701 million to establish a safety net for newly impoverished citizens, $1.9 billion to restore infrastructure, remove rubble, and rehabilitate water and power networks, and $1.2 billion to rebuild the private sector.

Government plan

The UN Relief and Works Agency, which cares for Palestinian refugees, will carry out projects valued at $1.6 billion within the ambit of the government plan.

While the US, Europe and the Gulf states have pledged substantial sums for reconstruction, other potential donors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude, arguing that there is no point in reconstructing Gaza as wars every two years wreak massive destruction while Israel’s blockade prevents Gaza from recovering and developing.

Despite renewed calls for an end to Israel’s siege, the Palestinian and Israel governments have signed an agreement brokered by Serry that could reinforce the siege and blockade. Israel has demanded tight monitoring of all materials at all stages of the effort and the establishment of a central database of suppliers, contractors and customers which would be made available to Israeli intelligence.

Projects monitored

According to a UN fact sheet on the agreement, Israel will approve all large-scale public and private sector works, which will be undertaken by Palestinian government-licensed contractors, while 80,000 approved householders will be able to purchase construction materials from licensed vendors. Their projects will be monitored.

Israel demands restrictions on and tracking of “dual use” construction materials to prevent Hamas from rebuilding tunnels under the border with Gaza with the aim of mounting attacks on Israel. Such tunnels were, however, built with cement and aggregate entering Gaza through smuggling tunnels running under the border with Egypt. Most of these tunnels have been closed by Cairo since 2011.

“If implemented in good faith” the deal, the fact sheet says, could lead to the lifting of Israel’s closure of Gaza. However, an unidentified UN official warned that the chances of Israel “reneging on agreements are “high risk” and potentially “catastrophic”.