Sunday, October 12, 2014

U.S. pledges $212 mln for Gaza reconstruction. (Mahmoud Abbas has asked for $4 billion)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry unveiled on Saturday a $212 million aid plan to help the Gaza Strip after it was devastated by a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas.
Kerry, who was one of 30 ministers attending the donor conference for the reconstruction of Gaza, said the Palestinians needed immediate assistance and that the humanitarian challenge was "enormous.”
“The people of Gaza do need our help, desperately, not tomorrow, not next week, they need it now,” he said told the Cairo meeting.

Qatar also promised $1 billion in reconstruction aid for Gaza at a donor conference in Cairo on Sunday, topping U.S. and European pledges for the devastated Palestinian enclave.
The Palestinian Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas has asked for $4 billion to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, mostly to rebuild homes in the wake of the conflict which killed 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
  • Abbas repeated his calls for an internationally set timeframe for establishing a Palestinian state, telling the global envoys in attendance that the latest conflict had destroyed government institutions in Gaza.
"Gaza has suffered three wars in six years. Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed ... There is a tangible need for funds to bring back government institutions, because they have all been destroyed," Abbas said.
"There must be a new international approach to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," he added.

"More than ever, the international community needs to support our attempt for a U.N. Security Council resolution to set a deadline to end the occupation."

Abbas and his Islamist Hamas rivals in Gaza have agreed on a unity government which convened last week for the first time in the enclave.....................http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/10/12/Gaza-donors-conference-to-convene-in-Cairo.html

12/10/14
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3 comments:

  1. UN Chief set for Gaza visit to help jump-start massive reconstruction effort ...

    Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today that he will be travelling to Gaza on Tuesday to visit several sites destroyed by last summer's conflict as a part of the effort “to look ahead and build a better future” and help advance reconstruction efforts.

    “I believe it is important to be on the ground. That is why I am announcing today that I will visit Gaza on Tuesday to listen directly to the people of Gaza, survey the situation for myself,” Mr. Ban said as he briefed journalists in Cairo following the conference on Gaza reconstruction.

    Mr. Ban said that while he felt confident that today the international community clearly recognized the massive needs in Gaza, “this must be the last Gaza reconstruction conference”.

    “Enough is enough,” Mr. Ban stressed, reiterating that the cycle of building and destroying must end. Donors may be fatigued – but the people of Gaza are bruised and bloody.

    Scheduled to arrive in Gaza on Tuesday, according to the United Nations Relief Agency (UNRWA), the UN Chief will visit three sites including the UNRWA Compound, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Fishing Project and the Jabalia school.

    During the recent 51-day conflict, dozens of schools, hospitals and clinics were destroyed or damaged in Gaza. UN facilities sheltering women and children were hit, resulting in many casualties. Eleven staff members of the UN were killed in the course of the conflict................http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=49062#.VDqzQ1fQqt8
    12/10/14

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  2. Gaza reconstruction in spotlight in Cairo conference...

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo early Sunday to participate in a conference aimed at raising billions of dollars to rebuild war-battered Gaza Strip, official news agency MENA reported.

    Senior officials from 50 countries and 20 organizations will attend the talks. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will address the international conference.

    Sisi will highlight his country's commitment to the Palestinian cause in general and particularly the safety and interests of Palestinians living in the Strip, state-run Ahram newspapers reported on its website.

    Sisi's statement will also affirm Egypt's commitment to cement the Palestinian national unity government to promote wider Palestinian reconciliation............http://www.china.org.cn/world/2014-10/12/content_33741250.htm
    12/10/14

    ReplyDelete
  3. Remarks at the Gaza Donors Conference....

    Remarks
    John Kerry
    Secretary of State
    Cairo, Egypt
    October 12, 2014
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    Thank you very much, Foreign Minister Shoukry. Thank you Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Vice Prime Minister Mustafa; our co-host, Foreign Minister Brende; and our colleague Cathy Ashton, the EU High Representative. I want to particularly thank President Sisi and Foreign Minister Shoukry for their leadership and for their partnership in their efforts for the Palestinian Authority and to help bring all of us here today for their work with Israel on the ceasefire. And we respect and thank them also for their partnership with the United States, not just in working towards a durable ceasefire, but also in helping to pull together, and helping to pull together this massive reconstruction effort.

    But President Sisi’s efforts, I think it’s fair to say, have really helped to reaffirm the pivotal role that Egypt has played in this region for so long. The same can also be said of Foreign Minister Brende and Norway, whose historic connection and commitment to these issues go back more than two decades to the Oslo Accords, and I’m personally always impressed by the deep engagement of Norway in efforts to make peace, not just here but elsewhere in the world. And of course, President Abbas, thank you for your perseverance and your partnership.

    This has been a difficult few months on a difficult issue in a difficult neighborhood, and no one feels that more than the people of Gaza. This summer, as we’ve heard in some of the statistics that Secretary-General shared with us, more than half a million Gazans had to flee their homes and seek safety. Twenty thousand homes were destroyed or severely damaged, and more than a hundred thousand people remain displaced. And winter is fast approaching................http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/10/232896.htm
    12/10/14

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