Trump Council Urges Gaza Payments

US President Donald Trump's Peace Council has highlighted the growing gap between pledged funding and actual disbursements for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. In its report to the UN Security Council, it called on member states to expedite the disbursement of funds, without which it said the reconstruction plan risked remaining on paper.

The Trump administration created the Peace Council to oversee a plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip and rebuild the devastated territory. It estimates the cost of reconstruction at more than $70 billion. Reuters reported in April that the Peace Council had received only a small portion of the $17 billion pledged by its member states.

The latter, in its latest statement, rejected claims of financial problems and said it was an "implementation-focused" organisation with no financial constraints. The money is to be used for both reconstruction and the functioning of the new US-backed Gaza transitional government.

Among the countries that have pledged funding are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Morocco. A number of states are hesitant to fund reconstruction because of transparency concerns and would prefer traditional organisations such as the UN.

The report also mentions that after more than two and a half years of war, some 85 percent of Gaza's buildings and infrastructure have been destroyed and some 70 million tons of rubble will need to be removed.

(reuters, max)