Gaza donors meet as U.S. pushes peace talks revival

Top envoys gather in Cairo Sunday for a conference aimed at raising billions of dollars to rebuild war-battered Gaza, as Washington urges Israel and the Palestinians to revive peace talks. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and 30 of his counterparts join U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is seeking a record $1.6 billion in aid to rebuild Gaza. The Palestinian government has unveiled a 76-page reconstruction plan, calling for $4 billion in funds, with the lion’s share going to build housing for some 100,000 people left homeless by the conflict in July and August. Kerry will meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on the sidelines of the conference, State Department officials said.

You will hear the secretary reaffirm the commitment of the United States to helping the parties achieve a negotiated two-state solution and our willingness to re-engage in the negotiations and help facilitate successful negotiations.

U.S. Official

Kerry was the architect of a high-profile resumption of negotiations, which collapsed in April and were followed by the 50-day summer war, the third conflict in the Palestinian coastal enclave in six years. Ahead of the Cairo meeting, the United Nations’ Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA described Gaza’s financial needs as “unprecedented.” But it is unclear how generous the world will be given the intractability of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other priorities in the region, such as the fight against Islamic State jihadists in Syria and Iraq.

More broadly we are interested in sort of breaking the cycle we have been in the last six years of war and reconstruction there.

U.S. Official

Middle East gaza