The United States on Sunday promised $212 million in immediate aid to help rebuild Gaza Strip infrastructure devastated by recent fighting between Hamas and Israel.
The pledge came during an international conference in Cairo, where nations worldwide committed $5.4 billion for the Palestinian-controlled enclave that borders Egypt and Israel.
“The people of Gaza do need our help desperately — not tomorrow, not next week, but they need it now,” said Secretary of State John Kerry while attending the conference.
Much of the territory’s infrastructure, including at least 100,000 homes, were damaged during a 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas. A ceasefire took hold in August.
Kerry said the money will help the Palestinian Authority meet its budgetary needs for “relief and reconstruction” efforts, including the immediate distribution of food and medicine, repairing the region’s water and sanitation system, and rebuilding homes before winter.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Boerge Brende, while speaking at the conference, said half of the total promised would be dedicated to reconstruction, and the assistance would be distributed in response to the daily needs of Palestinians, the BBC reported.
“This is a major breakthrough, a very important signal of solidarity to the Palestinian people in general and not at least to the people that are suffering so badly in Gaza,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates and Turkey both committed $200 million, while European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said donations from member states would reach $568 million, the BBC said.
The U.S. already provided more than $400 million in Palestinian aid the past year. It was unclear whether the money Kerry pledged would be in addition to that sum or whether his department was repackaging money already requested.
Kerry applauded Egypt and Norway for helping spearhead the fundraising effort.
“We come here with a sense of awesome responsibility and even resignation about the challenge that we face because we all know that so much more needs to be done, even though there have been encouraging steps,” he said.
Kerry also urged Palestinians and Israelis to resume peace talks and said the U.S. remains “fully, totally committed” to helping facilitate such action.
“A ceasefire is not peace, and we’ve got to find a way to get back to the table and help people make tough choices, real choices,” he said. “There is nothing sustainable about the status quo.”
Without a long-term commitment to peace, any donor money would be nothing more than “a Band-Aid fix,” he said.
“Out of this conference must come not just money, but a renewed commitment from everybody to work for a peace that meets the aspirations of all — for Israelis, for Palestinians, and for all the peoples of this region.”
