EU says donors are offering about $1 billion for early Gaza recovery

The European Union said European donors are offering almost 900 million euros, or about $1 billion, to support initial recovery work in Gaza.

Dubravka Suica, the EU commissioner for the Mediterranean, announced the package before a donor meeting in Brussels. She said the donors needed conditions on the ground that would allow support to reach people in Gaza.

EU officials said the funds include money already pledged for Gaza. The money would be used to clear debris from Israel’s military offensive and rebuild basic services such as water and sanitation.

Brussels said the governments of Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland were participating, along with the European Commission and the European Investment Bank.

The EU said Suica recently visited Israel and reached agreement with Israeli authorities on next steps for two large projects in waste and water management in Gaza. Suica said donors wanted to begin with early recovery, but said Hamas would need to disarm for proper recovery to start.

The source says Gaza’s humanitarian needs remain overwhelming. The United Nations estimates that reconstruction will take years and require tens of billions of dollars, while construction materials and debris-clearing equipment remain in critical short supply.

Representatives from US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which is intended to help prepare for post-war Gaza, attended the Brussels meeting. Suica said their attendance should help ensure coordination and complementarity in rebuilding efforts.

The meeting also included Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and was due to assess Palestinian Authority reforms in relation to further aid. The EU is the largest international donor to the Palestinians.

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was reached in October after two years of war, which began with the Palestinian militants’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The second phase of the ceasefire, which was to include Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, has been stalled for months.